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’

Re-think the Resume Career professionals and students alike need to re-think the resume.  The term resume derives from the English word “resumen” which means summation and from the French, “Resumer,” which means to summarize.  However, resumes should never be written to simply summarize; they should be written to persuade.  Resumes have obviously changed but the change is not only in purpose;

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,

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

The job market is so drastically different these days yet so many job seekers are still using the same old methods of job searching.  I thought to myself, this can’t simply be because people are choosing not to change their tactics, but rather, because they are not aware of the different strategies they should be using.  Certainly, if people only

Healthy Frustration vs. Chronic Complaining In this economy, there are many frustrated people looking for work or looking to progress in their careers. There’s nothing wrong with frustration as long as you learn to deal with it in a constructive manner. However, there is a difference between those who are merely frustrated and those who are just chronic career complainers.

Most people have seen the Google Experiment or the super creative QR code resume that landed Victor Petit a marketing gig but this Twitter Hustle is arguably the most clever job hustle yet. How it Worked The user realizes that the top 5 new followers to one’s Twitter account always appear in the upper right corner of that person’s Twitter

What is the Elevator Pitch? The elevator pitch has been preached to job seekers for many years. The basic premise is that if you ever found yourself in an elevator ride with someone you admire like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, you would be able to convince them to hire you by the time the ride was over. Thus, the

With criminal background checks, drug screenings, credit checks, resume scanning software, and a series of interviews all standing in the way of a job offer, why would anyone want to create their own self-imposed barrier to employment?  That’s exactly what you do when you don’t proofread the marketing materials you submit to an employer. Don’t Rely on Spell Check Too