What is “Required” to Get a Job? The question in this headline calls to attention everything that is wrong with the mentality of many job seekers and arguably, many career coaches.  The only thing “required” for one to obtain a job is that an employer makes an offer which one accepts.  How does one find themselves in the position in

What is a Personal Brand? Personal branding is a term that has gained a lot of buzz for those who work as a career professional but what is it?  Personal branding refers to how we market ourselves strategically to influence public perception.  This is my own definition.  If you think about it, people have always marketed themselves to influence others’

With all the articles that exist that suggest best practices for using LinkedIn, I thought it was necessary to discuss the wrong way to use LinkedIn. Given that there are so many job seekers, recent college graduates, and professionals still trying to grasp how to make the most of their LinkedIn experience, many may still not understand what they might

The World Has Changed As we approach the new year, it’s a good time to reflect on the past.  2011 was a tough year for many and 2012 is likely to be the beginning of a long-term transition for many job seekers and companies adjusting to all the changes that have occurred in the marketplace.  Although unemployment in the U.S.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that the user provides. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.  Some of you probably already know where I’m going with this but for those who are still scratching your head, let me explain. The Importance of Online Search More than ever,

With Thanksgiving here, I thought it was perfect timing to write a blog about the importance of the thank you letter. One would think sending a thank you letter upon completion of a job interview would be common sense, but many candidates don’t ever do it, no matter their experience level.  Why does this happen? Perhaps it is because job

In my “Career Advice Cliches (Part 1)” article, I talked about the career advice cliche I disliked the most.  I hear career advice cliches often and I dislike them because the advice is typically vague, tends to over-simplify things, or it is outdated but people have heard it so much, they continue to perpetuate it.  So, part 2 of my

The Importance of Personal Brand Reputation I have always said that the job search process is a marketing process.  Employers are the shoppers and job seekers are the products.  Which product an employer chooses is influenced by the marketing collateral (resumes, cover letters, portfolio), the sales pitch (interview), product testing (personaity tests, skills assessments) and product reputation (Letters of recommendation,

Loving What You Do What it is it we are chasing when we are after our career goals?  In a previous post, I talked about the true meaning of passion. If you are after your career goals, you should be after what you love or you’re chasing the wrong career.  People who truly love something, do it on their own

Facebook has 750 Million users and is projected to have 1 billion by 2012.  With that many people on Facebook, imagine the potential for making professional connections.  The majority of people find jobs through networking so imagine how social networking on Facebook could potentially boost your odds of connecting with someone at a company you love.  THE professional networking tool