Don’t neglect this components of your LinkedIn profile; the Summary

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To make your LinkedIn profile appealing to employers, every section of it has to stand out. I wrote an article on the LinkedIn photo and branding headline and how they can contribute to your personal branding. Now I’ll address one of the most important LinkedIn sections, the summary. In my mind this section is neglected by far too many people, greatly reducing their personal branding potential.

Let’s look at three points to consider when branding yourself with your LinkedIn summary.

Don’t recite your résumé summary. Some jobseekers, against the advice of Professional Résumé Writer Tracy Parish, use their summary as a dumping ground for their résumé’s summary. In other words, they copy and paste the summary from their résumé to their LinkedIn summary. Is this utter laziness or poor branding? Both.

Tracy writes, “The summary section on LinkedIn is probably one of the main places people miss out on a great opportunity to showcase what they have to offer. This is NOT the place to copy and paste your résumé, and it’s not the place to skimp on critical information. As a jobseeker, it is critically important to create a ‘Wow Factor’….”

One major difference between the two summaries is the number of characters allowed on LinkedIn and the number of characters your résumé’s summary should contain. You are allowed 2,000 characters for your LinkedIn summary. So use them! On a résumé this number of characters would take up three-quarters of a page, much too long for a two-page document. A proper number of characters for a résumé should not exceed 1,000 if written well.

You have a voice with LinkedIn. You’re given more freedom of expression on LinkedIn; use it! Be creative and make the employer want to read on. This is what effective branding does, which includes your voice. It should be some of your best writing and can be written in first person or even third person.

Most pundits lean toward first person, as it expresses a more personal side to you. A summary written in first person seems to invite others into the writer’s life. To me, the first person voice is more natural. Look at Jason Alba’s summary written in first person. It is personal and makes you feel like you know him. Jason is the author I’m on LinkedIn, Now What??? and founder of JibberJabber.com.

Not many people pull off the third person voice well. In my opinion, the third-person voice can sound stilted; but if done right, it can make a powerful branding impact. Dan Schawbel is one person who makes it work, primarily because he is a reputable branding expert. His summary brands him extremely well.

Decide how you want to deliver your personal branding. How you brand yourself through your summary depends on the type of work you’re pursuing, your skill set, the story you want to tell, what you want to reveal about your personality, and other factors.

Darrell Dizolglio, a Professional Résumé Writer who also writes LinkedIn profiles, says it depends on his clients’ talents and career goals. “I have found by helping hundreds of clients over the years that the greatest results come when you use the LinkedIn summary to open yourself up to multiple opportunities/positions, while your résumés can zero in on just one position very effectively. Naturally, you can/should have multiple targeted résumés out there at work for you. However, you are allowed only one LinkedIn summary per person.”

If you want to state your accomplishments in the summary, this can be an effective way of grabbing potential employers’ attention. This is the “Wow” factor of which Tracy speaks. Some prefer to use the work history section for presenting their accomplishments, and, in fact, the history section should be all about accomplishments. Save the mundane duties for your Job Scope on your résumé.

Wendy Enelow , author of numerous job search books and a world renowned Careers Industry Leader, gives us her take on using the LinkedIn summary for telling a story. “If I’m working with a client who has a really great career story to tell, then I’ll definitely use the LinkedIn summary to tell the story. Perhaps they were promoted 8 times in 10 years with IBM, or moved rapidly from one company to another based on their strong financial contributions to each organization.”

Martin Yate says it all with his summary. He combines an out-of-the-gate introduction of himself, with a little bit of philosophy on the direction of your job search. Martin is the author of the Knock ‘em Dead series. Here’s a snippet from his summary:

“I make it my business to teach you how to navigate [the career search]. Over the years, it’s become my mission to show you how to survive and prosper through the twists and turns of a 50-year career. Whether it is in a book, on the radio, during a webinar or a video – my goal is to provide advice, actionable takeaways, and integrated strategies, because you have no time to waste and just one chance to get it right!”

As for my summary, I decided to use more of a philosophical/functional approach, describing my strongest skill areas. I put most of my effort into the summary section of my profile but don’t skimp on my work history. While every section is important, it is a heinous crime to neglect the summary section of your profile. Next I’ll talk about the work history of your LinkedIn profile.

One more argument for volunteering your way to a job

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Before you say, “I’m tired of hearing about volunteering,” take time to read what I have to say. I’ve ignored newspaper articles on what’s happening in the labor market because, quite honestly, they depress me.

But this morning I was drawn to an article that offered no groundbreaking great news; in fact it was dismal. But through the fog of negative reporting, there was one bit of good advice.

The article of which I speak appeared in the Boston Globe (Sunday, 9/18/2011). It pointed out the difficulties veteran workers in the IT sector are having getting jobs due to lack of experience. One example given was a software engineer proficient in C++ but lacking Java.

In certain positions, like software engineering, the disparity in technica skills is hard to overlook. But there is hope, as long as you’re willing to invest the time to overcome a deficiency you have in your skills.

I wrote an article on the importance of volunteering while conducting your job search, and I stressed volunteering at a company for which you’d consider working. There are two major reasons for this. First, you can network more efficiently while you’re back in the industry among professionals who are privy to possibilities, and who would like to help you.

Second, you can enhance your skills and learn new ones. The situation where the software engineer lacks Java experience is a perfect example. Taking courses will certainly give you some knowledge in the software required to land a job, but hands-on experience using the software is far more valuable. And sometimes required by recruiters, according to the article:

“The ability to learn new skills is rarely at the top of a recruiter’s job orders; many companies demand candidates with skills that perfectly match their requirements.”

I had a jobseeker who worked at Raytheon, where she was a productive engineer using C++. She never had training using Java, as it was not required for her position. As she combed the want ads, she discovered that the majority of jobs available were for Java developers. She was in a hole. But she wasn’t going to give up. I would see her reading texts books on Java scripting.

The solution, as stated above, is to gain hands-on experience in a skill that you’re lacking. Continue to self-educate yourself on the skills you notice are in demand, as my jobseeker did; but go one step further and approach companies in your industry that need engineers, marketers, sales people, nurses, accountants, etc., and volunteer your services—with an understanding that you’re not looking for a job at said companies.

This is precisely what the Boston Globe reported: “’If you want to be anywhere close to the cutting edge, you can’t expect that you’ll have a [paying] job when you start,’ said Stephen Flavin, dean of academic and corporate development at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. ‘If you really want to learn it you have to volunteer your time.’’’

I hope that if you’re in this situation, you won’t give up hope. Many of my jobseekers have landed jobs in their field by volunteering; some of them at the company for which they volunteered.

Be prepared for the big and little things at an interview

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The other day a job seeker named Bill came to my workshop carrying a newspaper article from the Boston Herald titled: “Be prepared for [the] unexpected at [the] job interview.” It’s not often someone brings in a newspaper article for me to read, nor do I often see a newspaper. So I was a bit stunned.

I was grateful for the article Bill brought me because much of what was written confirmed what I tell job seekers about the interview process. Not what questions to predict; not how to successfully structure their answer to a behavioral question; and not how to negotiate salary. The article talked about the simpler acts interviewees sometimes take for granted.

Two of the do’s some job seekers take for granted, according to this article, are maintaining eye contact and arriving on time. Weren’t we told many years ago that these faux pas are unforgivable? Reading that these interview mistakes still occur is almost incomprehensible. In the worst economy of our time, I can’t see any room for even these minor mishaps. Sweaty palms, a bit of hesitation, some “umms” here and there, are borderline acceptable.

So what goes wrong after job seekers zip off a great résumé and cover letter, pass the phone interview, and head for the all important face-to-face? Some of it can be attributed to nerves and downright fear, and some of it can be because the interviewee doesn’t have the common sense of a Labrador Receiver.

Marvin Walberg, the author of this article, writes that a survey was conducted by Accountemps to see what the kinds of silly mistakes are made at interviews. The mistakes go beyond not maintaining eye contact and being late; we’re talking about other more serious mistakes, definite interview killers.

Of more than a thousand hiring managers, six blunders stood out more than others. The percentages indicate which mistakes came to the managers’ mind first.

1. Little or no knowledge of the company: 38 percent
2. Unprepared to discuss skills and experience: 20 percent
3. Unprepared to discuss career plans, goals: 14 percent
4. Lack of eye contact: 10 percent
5. Late arrival: 9 percent
6. Limited enthusiasm: 9 percent

The first three failures point directly to unpreparedness. What more can job search professionals tell jobseekers? Prepare, prepare, prepare. It’s that simple. If you’re not prepared for the interview, your raw intelligence, good looks, and charm will probably not land you the job.

Questions about the job: Expect questions regarding the company and the job. Interviewers want to know why you want to work for them, what you know about their plans and goals, what understanding you have of their products and services. And they also want you to sell their company to them.

Knowing the company’s competitors will be an added bonus. Going to the interview loaded with all this knowledge can solve the employers’ last most common mistake, failing to show enthusiasm.

Be able to discuss your skills and experience: “Know thyself” is such a well known cliché, but it’s true. You have to know what duties you’ve performed, how well you’ve performed them; and it all has to relate to the position you’re seeking. As we’ve read hundreds of times, quantified accomplishments sell.

People with good recall usually have no problems recounting their experience, so those whose memory isn’t that great need to study their résumé before going to the interview.

Know your goal plans: Where do you plan to be in five years? Who the hell knows? At least show your ambition by telling employers that you reach for the stars and won’t be a clock puncher—in at 9:00 out at 5:00 on the dot.

If you want to be an individual contributor and are tired of the management route, demonstrate your desire to accomplish great things in your new role. Let them know you want to help the company’s bottom line. This is providing the role doesn’t have management responsibilities in the future.

The last three, my friend, are simply common sense. If you avoid peoples’ eyes, are constantly late, and show no enthusiasm, it’s time to do an about face and change your ways. I’m glad some people still read the newspaper and are thoughtful enough to bring in the cut-outs.

For those of you who are trying, hang in there and have hope

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I’m going to preface this article by saying plenty of jobseekers I know are conducting a proactive job search but to no avail.

They’re not relying completely on the job boards, placing all their cards on recruiters, sending out cookie cutter resumes, and wasting their time on more ineffective job search methods. In other words, they’re trying. I and other career trainers see your efforts and applaud you.

A recent article on wjs.com called No Market for Lazy Jobseekers, Ruth Mantell, might give you the impression that we career search pundits think conducting the proper job search will guarantee you a job. That we don’t understand the emotional and financial difficulties that consume many people who have been unemployed for one month or one year.

The article notes 10  lazy job-seeking habits. And while they may be accurate, the article doesn’t take into consideration the complexity of finding a job in today’s economy. It doesn’t feign empathy for those who have done what has been asked of them in terms of conducting the proper job search.

But our mission as job search trainers is to give guidance. It isn’t to dwell on the unfortunate realities of unemployment. To that end, we can only point out obvious mistakes, as noted in the article, and offer up suggestions that make for a more productive job search.

Some career trainers like me have lost a job, or two, and understand the despondency heightened by day after day of activity with little progress. The words “it sucks” don’t quite cover the emotional rollercoaster you…I’ve…gone through.

To say, “We get it” is accurate. We understand that telling jobseekers how to find work is often easier said than done; but, at the same time, to conduct a job search based on blasting out hundreds of résumés a month does not constitute a viable campaign.

Point two of the article, Using a Stock Résumé, is very sound advice. Violating networking etiquette is not cool, and asking only what your network can do for you is asking for trouble. There’s no arguing against Ms. Mantell’s advice. To honestly say, “I’m doing everything right but nothing’s working” is fair and should be rewarded.

For what it’s worth, I appreciate you following through on writing targeted résumés, cover letters, and approach letters; going to the interviews prepared for the tough traditional questions and even tougher behavioral question. I’m thrilled to see your efforts on LinkedIn. Glad to link up with you when you send invites to me (even with default invitations). All of this is not for naught.

When you get a job, I’m thrilled. I don’t attribute it to my advice, because you’re the one who did the leg work and sat in the hot seat. You sent the thank you letters. Some of you came back after a short stint, while others made the temp-to-perm job a permanent one. (Pete, you still owe me a cheesecake.)

I still assert that there are proper methods to use in the job search and will continue to point them out. I will not provide the slightest window of opportunity for self-pity, as this is behavior for you to harbor and not let it surface in workshops or while networking or at an interview.

I’m fond of saying, “Hang in there” when other words escape me. So that’s what I’d like you to do. Never give up. Never question your abilities, even if you’ve been off the horse for a while now. And know that you have the support of career trainers, because our mission is to help you to find work. If you read this and feel that I feel you, drop by to say, “Hey” or send an e-mail to confirm you’ve gotten my message. Hell, tell me to jump off a cliff with my condescension. Whatever works…works.

Nerves can be a killer at an interview; don’t let them

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Interviews are stressful. I know only one person who said she loved being interviewed, but I don’t know if she was telling me the truth.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of being interviewed—the last one I attended was four years ago and it ended successfully. I “performed” well and shined more than I thought; but I was still nervous and couldn’t remember a word of what I said.

Jobseekers who attend my interview workshops nod their heads in agreement when I talk about how nerves can sabotage the interview for any qualified candidate. It just seems to overcome them when sitting in the hot seat. This, to say the least, is a stressful situation.

Stressful is fine. We have to experience stress to keep us on our toes, as well as learn how to deal with it better. Yet, some people have a very hard time taming their nerves at an interview. You talk with them in a different environment, and they’re as calm as a lake in the morning. But at an interview it’s as though they’re about to walk the plank.

I notice it in one woman I coach. She maintains steady eye contact, speaks with a steady voice, and recalls the answers to any question; but she admits that at an interview, this all goes out the window. It’s the nerves.

Here are some ways to get over the nervousness that leads to a stressed-out interview, including some things you’ll want to do before the meeting.

  1. Realize that the interview is nothing more than a conversation between you, the seller, and the employer, the buyer. Your job is to engage in the conversation. Don’t see it as an interrogation, where you’re getting raked over the coals by Andre Braugher from Homicide: Life on the Streets. Henceforth remove “interview” from your vocabulary.
  2. Be prepared. Let’s say it three times: prepare, prepare, prepare. This means knowing what some of the tough questions might be asked. Forbs.com recently wrote a piece on 10 of the toughest questions. There are many more, but this sample of questions gets to the root of what employers are trying to determine about you. It goes without saying that you must know the competencies for the job and can predict questions based on meeting them.
  3. Realize the interviewer has one purpose and one purpose only, to find the right candidate. She wants to get as much pertinent information from you as possible. This means she wants you to relax and answer her questions with clarity and confidence. She doesn’t want you to fail. Doesn’t that make you feel better.
  4. You are the right person for the job. You’ve applied for a position you’re suited for. If you haven’t applied for the right position, you shouldn’t be at the meeting. There will be other people who applied for the same position and aren’t qualified, but you are. You’ve earned the right to be there, so give yourself a hoorah.
  5. Prepare yourself emotionally for the meeting between you and your potential employer. If given the chance to meet with the employer later in the day, take it and use the morning to review some facts about the job and company. Take a walk and practice your answers, call a friend and talk about light matter, do yoga before getting dressed, or any activity that relaxes you.
  6. To further decrease your nervousness, you may want to bring a cheat sheet. Although I recommend against it, some jobseekers use it as a security blanket. An an article in CareerBuilder.com supports bringing a cheat sheet: “Bringing a cheat sheet and questions. There is no rule that says you can’t bring a nice portfolio with some notes and question on it so during the interview you glance down at it,” says Mark Lyden, author of “Professionals: Do This! Get Hired!”. “What should be on the cheat sheet are little reminders of situations (your life experiences) that you may want to give as an example to answer one of the interview questions

I’ll be the last one to say the meeting between you and the employer will be stress-free. I experience the nerves before and during any time I have to speak before a group of people, but I’ve learned to turn that nervousness into positive energy, mainly because I’m confident of what I have to say.

If you are paralyzed by fear and nerves, perhaps you should speak to a professional who can suggest coping skills. Your chance of getting a job should not be dictated by your fear and nerves; you’re the right one for the job, and you know it.

4 more ways to stay encouraged during a long job search

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Jessica Holbrook’s article mentioned four great ways to stay encouraged during the job search in an article titled “4 Tips for Staying Encouraged during a Long Job Search.” So I thought I’d do what my college buddies and I did when we were at a seedy diner, occupying a table until 3:00 a.m., staving off our drunken stupor; and playing the napkin game. In other words, add four more ways to stay positive in the job search.

One: I suggest you visit your local or your college career center. As a workshop specialists and one from whom many seek advice, I can say that there is a great deal to learn about the job search. Let’s face it; the job search has changed in the past 10, 20, 30 years. I’m not just blowing smoke.

How does your résumé feel (as Jessica mentions)? Do you realize that despite many people’s advice, a cover letter is still necessary? Are you aware that behavioral interviews are becoming the norm, even during a telephone interview?

Two: Find a support group. Your inclination might be to commiserate with a buddy over a couple of beers, but that grows old. Trust me. Have a couple of sit-downs to discuss your feelings about being laid off. Air it out.

But then decide to do something constructive, such as join a networking group or two. I suggest seeking out business networking groups or professional affiliations in your occupation where employed people attend. It’s always a good idea to network with people who are in your industry’s loop. Follow the networking creed, don’t go to these groups to ask for a job; you’re there to seek advice and provide your perspective.

Three: Get outside your comfort zone. Have you ever worn your watch on the opposite wrist? I know it’s a silly question, but when you wear your watch on the opposite wrist, it feels uncomfortable, almost unbearable. This is how it might feel to network face-to-face. You may dread going to a networking event where you’ll meet strangers and have to make small talk. Introverts like me know the feeling. However, I make it a point to attend networking events just to get outside my comfort zone. I see these as small victories. Eventaully these small victories will add up to a major victory…a job.

Four: Accept professional and social online networking. Use LinkedIn (the professional networking) to establish contacts and communicate with people who will make a difference in your job search. The same holds true for Twitter and Facebook (the social networking). Communicate with the plan to Advise, Acknowledge, Appreciate, and Advance. These are terms Liz Lynch uses in her presentation of Build strategic relationships using social media platforms. Simply stated, practice proper networking using online tools.

There are many suggestions on how to stay encouraged during your job search. Jessica offers you four viable ways, and I added four more. What other strategies can you think of? Share them with other people who are temporarily out of work. Play the napkin game and comment on Jessica’s and my suggestions.

What You Should Know Before Contacting a Recruiter

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Guest post: Laura Smith-Proulx, Executive Résumé Writer, LinkedIn Profile Writer, Past Recruiter, Resume Expert & Columnist

Considering contacting a recruiter to find out about executive or leadership jobs in your field? Many job hunters assume that forging connections with recruiters will put them closer to lucrative, high-level positions that aren’t otherwise advertised.

However, a successful recruiter-job seeker relationship doesn’t just happen. It’s important to understand the relationship among all involved parties (the recruiter, company, and you), get your résumé in top shape, and to be ready to deal with potential objections.

These tips will help you be ready to work effectively with a recruiter—with better results from the relationship and a faster outcome for your job search:

1 – Recruiters often source candidates that have been there, done that.

Career professionals and executives that have followed a straight-line, traditional career trajectory (and very few job changes) are the best candidates for working with a recruiter.

The reason? Recruiters are hired by companies to identify talent among leaders who can demonstrate commitment to a specific type of career or skill set, with steady advancement toward a senior-level role in their particular field.

Therefore, if you’re trying to switch between one job type to another, or you’ve hopped among different employers frequently, you’ll often fare better by contacting employers directly.

2 – A recruiter’s mission is to focus on the needs of their client companies.

What many job hunters fail to grasp is that recruiter job orders often contain specific detail on the background, education, career history, and competencies  of the ideal candidate.

Depending upon the recruiter’s relationship with their clients, they may not be able to convince the company to take a chance on your background—especially if it’s not in line with these requirements.

A recruiter must not only be comfortable with the strength of your credentials, but confident that you represent a true personality and leadership fit within their client companies. After all, the recruiter’s professional reputation (and future commissions) are riding on their ability to supply the all-around perfect candidate.

3 – Your résumé must be ready for presentation to their clients.

Too often, job seekers dash off a résumé to recruiters that undercuts their abilities—making it difficult for the recruiter to promote the job hunter as a viable candidate.

If your leadership résumé  hasn’t had a review from colleagues or a résumé professional, it can be worth your time to request a critique or suggestions. Some recruiters even refer their clients to career coaches that can elicit a strong brand message on the résumé.

Others can often see qualities in your background that you’re too close to realize, and their recommendations can make the difference in the response you receive from a recruiter.

As a job hunting method, working with recruiters can be very effective, but only if you go in with an awareness of your role, fitness as a candidate, and realistic expectations.

Some reasons why people blog

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What is it that makes people blog? Do they blog for money, fame, the love of writing, to promote their business, or to brand themselves? It can be a combination of all these reasons; or people may blog because they feel the need to be “heard.” The above are some reasons why people blog, but there are more reasons, I’m sure. If you blog, can you pinpoint why?

For money. People who set out to blog for money may be in for a rude awakening. One of my mentors told me once, “Bob, you don’t make money blogging unless you’re published.” I agree with him somewhat on this point, but will amend by adding that you most likely won’t make money blogging unless you’re paid by a company or organization to blog; in which case no one will know you’re the writer.

For fame. You may become famous for blogging; but in order to do so, you must have a pretty large following. If Oprah, Obama, or Steve Jobs were to declare they’re going to blog as their full-time gig, they’d get hits galore. But we’d probably never know if they did the actual writing.

For the love of writing. I’m no Hemmingway or David Sadaris, but that won’t keep me from blogging. I enjoy writing, especially when it’s about the job search. I’ve stated in other entries that blogging and answering questions on LinkedIn are preferable over watching the Bachelorette, So You Think You Can Dance, and other mundane television shows.

To promote your business. I’m surprised that more business people don’t blog. With free blogsites like WordPress and Blogspot, it’s an easy way to market your service/s in a subtle way—e.g., don’t broadcast your résumé writing service throughout or at the end of your blog entry. Simply explain the need for a powerful résumé, executive to entry-level. Your readers will get it, especially if you show you know what you’re talking about. One blog I particularly like is Executive Résumé Expert.

To be heard. Introverts tend to feel left out of conversations and meetings because of their think-before-they-speak nature, leaving the extraverts to often dominate the discussion. Thus writing tends to be the introverts favorite mode of communicating. What better way for the introvert to express his/her thoughts than blogging?

To brand yourself. This is probably the best reason to blog, as well as most talked about. I mention in my workshops that starting and maintaining a blog is a great way to brand yourself. Some of the attendees look at me like I’m asking them to give up their first born. I tell them they’re experts in their field. If you enjoy writing and want to get yourself out there, blogging is a great way to do it.

My urge to blog was further fueled after having read Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself by Erick Deckers and Kyle Lacy. The message I came away with was in order to be known, or branded, you have to be visible on the Internet. While writing a blog will not automatically brand you, it is a way to reinforce the brand you’ve already established. So blogging a consistent positive message is key in fostering your brand.

Bloggers read others’ blogs. It would only make sense that to learn how to blog and enhance your blogging skills, you read what others in your industry have to say. To increase your branding capabilities, share the wealth of information that circulates the Internet. A great source of news is LinkedIn Today, an accumulation of blog entries from various e-zines. I often breeze through them until I find a blog entry I think is of value to my network. Then I share it with them.

I have a blog roll to the right of this entry that includes reputable professionals in the job search industry. I’ve included some of them in this entry, so feel free to check them out. A Storied Career, About.com Job Searching, Branding Yourself Blog, Career Rocketeer, Career Solvers, Executive Resume Expert, Job Hunt, Martin Yate Blog, PongoResume, The New England Job Show.

Pay it Forward are not just words. Two people put them into action

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You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.   ~  John Wooden

The term “pay it forward” is unfathomable to some jobseekers. They way they see it is they’re the ones who are out of work and; therefore, they should be the ones receiving help, not others. This way of thinking is what holds them back from networking or reaching out to do a good deed, which in turn hurts their chances of finding a job.

The majority of jobseekers I run into understand the beauty of paying it forward. They embrace helping others, knowing that help will come their way. Whether it’s offering a free service, giving sound advice, providing a contact name, forwarding a résumé, or giving moral support; paying it forward is all good.

I bring this popular term up in a career networking workshop. To simplify the concept, I tell my attendees that the act of helping others creates good Karma. Further I tell them they should not expect the person you help to immediately repay the favor, because another person will step forward to help you. In fact, you may never receive reciprocation from the person you assisted.

A customer of mine named John Yurka demonstrated the pay it forward mentality in the truest sense; he took photos of five jobseekers for free. He met with them this past Tuesday in a park and spent a good part of his morning making sure the photos he took were to the recipients’ satisfaction.

The photos were astonishing, in my humble opinion. And the jobseekers must have felt the same way, because all of them uploaded their likenesses to LinkedIn. One of the people wrote to me with excitement, commending the work John had done. (An example of John’s work is on the left.)

Another champion of the unemployed, Ken Masson, has helped jobseekers in the past by founding a television show called The New England Job Show. This show comprises of volunteers who help jobseekers find work. Initially the purpose of the show was to film jobseekers’ personal commercials, but soon it branched out to interviewing job search experts, hosting a blog of job-search experts, offering training, and more.

Many of the volunteers from the show eventually find work after starting there, which means that replacements have to be found. When NEJS volunteers find work it’s always great news, but it causes a lot of work for Jackie Simmonds, the current COO of the show. Ken will be dedicating more of his time to the show, because this is what he does; he pays it forward.

There are no hard statistics on how successful paying it forward is. Smart jobseekers simply understand that it makes common sense. It makes common sense because as you’re helping someone, another person is in the process of helping you. I’m convinced that the jobseekers who believe in paying it forward will receive the help they need. How do I know? I just do.

Recruiters advised to interview properly; jobseekers advised to be well prepared

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Listen up jobseekers! Recruiters are looking for and finding better ways to interview you. In-house or third-party recruiters are being advised to find the right candidate, not the one who interviews best, but the one who can do the job. The one who can still do the job six months from the time he/she’s hired. 

What does this mean to you? Everything recruiters are advised to do, you must follow their lead…and more.

In Ben’s (simply Ben) article, 5 Ways a Recruiter can Improve Their Interview Technique, posted on http://www.recruitersblog.com/, this recruiter offers his colleagues some sage advice on how to hire the best talent through proper interviewing techniques and attitude. What he has to tell his colleagues is exactly what those of you who seek the help of recruiters should know. What follows are a few of Ben’s notable points.

Recruiters shouldn’t base their decision on interview “performance.”

There are those who interview well but can’t do the job. In other words they’re frauds. Conversely, there are those who don’t interview so well, but can do the job. They suffer a bout of stage fright. Ideally recruiters would like to present people who have both qualities to the hiring manager; but the latter is much more preferable than the former. Side note: unfortunately performing well is still something you must strive to do. Prove you can do the job and then do it.

“I’m sure we’ve all had experiences we’re we’ve hired someone because we got on with them at the interview stage,” Ben writes.  “Then, six months into the role, he or she were still great people but couldn’t/struggled to achieve what was required of them in the first place.”

Don’t focus on first impressions.

Another thing I admire about Ben’s thinking is how he tells his colleagues to deemphasize the first impression interviewers make. Don’t ignore it completely, but don’t make it a deciding factor like we’ve heard done so often in the past. Some say a recruiter or employer will make his/her decision within the first 30 seconds. Here’s what Ben suggests to his colleagues:

“My challenge to you? Be really disciplined on this one. Take those first impressions (we’re all human after all and can’t switch off this natural reaction) but park them.  Write them down somewhere at the beginning of the interview and refer to it again at the end to compare with your final thoughts.”

Use behavioral interview techniques.

One last thing I’d like to point out is the value of behavioral questions. Ben nails this one on the head when he talks about speculative responses as opposed to proven responses. All of us can rehearse for the traditional questions, but the answers we provide to a behavioral question are proven over and over to be accurate…and truthful:

“Just because a candidate says they will do something in 5 weeks time if X Y or Z happens doesn’t mean they actually will.  Instead of asking them what they would do if something happened simply switch the question around.  Ask them for specific examples where they’ve encountered that situation and what they actually did. What were the results? What were the challenges? What were the biggest lessons and how did they change as a result?”

Job search advisors are hearing more and more about how recruiters are employing the best practices to present the right people to the employers, candidates who have not only the technical skills but the transferable and adaptive ones as well. Jobseekers can hope that recruiters and employers will practice best interview techniques, but they must also be prepared for poor interviewers.