Social media has given us many outlets to network with others, but it’s become such a convenience to  network online, that many are neglecting the face-to-face networking that is so vital in career management. Liz Lynch has written a great book on Networking called Smart Networking: Attract a Following in Person and Online. Keith Ferrazzi has written two books on networking: Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back.

So, who comprises a network? Everyone you know, so in essence, you are networking everyday. But, how about networking events? Find out which events and meetings that your network attends to find networking events that might be helpful in your career transition. Ideally, you want to find out where your target audience hangs out. Have a clear cut strategy for these events and remember networking’s golden rule: GIVE.

I’ll share a few tips for networking:

1. Do have a business card to hand out. Make sure it includes your contact information, your job title, URL (could be your LinkedIn profile, VisualCV, web portfolio, blog, etc.). Create a short tagline that shows your unique promise of value / personal brand.
2. Create your elevator pitch. A great resource can be found at http://www.15secondpitch.com. The feature I appreciate is that they only give you 500 characters total to write your pitch. The Pitch Wizard asks you a series of questions to help you formulate your statement. Memorize this as a way to introduce yourself quickly, so you can focus on how you can give.
3. Find out how you can help others at these events. It could be as simple as sending them an article link to a resource you know about that would help them solve a challenge.
4. Do let people know you are in a career transition and are interested in networking opportunities with companies. Ask if they know anyone in your targeted companies.
5. Collect their business cards. Before you leave, make notes on the back of their business card of who they know, how you might help them, etc. Email or write a follow-up note after the networking event to let them know how much you enjoyed meeting them and be sure to include a line or two where you comment on something you discussed.

Finding networking events seems to be a challenge for most, so I’ll share a few tips here on how to find local events in your industry:

• Your local newspaper will generally list upcoming networking events with dates, times, and locations.
• If you are a member of Facebook, then type in your industry (i.e. marketing). At the bottom of the drop-down box, you will find “See more results for marketing.” You will click on this hyperlink to see the results for business pages and groups. You can further hone your search by adding a location such as your state or city/state. Many times, these geographic-specific groups will host live, networking events and give you a chance to meet your fellow group members.
• On LinkedIn, you will see “Groups” on the toolbar. When you click “Groups,” you will see a dropdown of choices. Click “Groups Directory” and search for industry-specific groups and you can narrow your search by including geographic location. Like Facebook, belonging to these groups may provide you with opportunities to have in-person, networking events.
• TweetUps are organized through Twitter and can be industry-specific groups as well. You can use a service like Twtvite (http://twtvite.com/) to organize a TweetUp or to create your own networking group.
• If you are interested in online networking, Twitter has lots of different chats, including #HireFriday, #JobHuntChat, and more. You can find a growing list of chats at this website link: http://tinyurl.com/TwitterChatList.

Again, your network includes everyone you know, so make sure to remember them on important dates. When you read something that they might enjoy or benefit, send them the article or blog link. Keep them top of mind, so you will stay top of mind with them.

Your network needs to grow. If you stay in a comfort zone with the same people, you may be missing critical relationships that could facilitate new opportunities, whether it be career advancement, the potential to work on a coveted project, and much more.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

1) Thеу understand thаt thеіr name wіll bе Googled bу potential employers аnd recruiters.

Seventy-nine percent οf hiring managers polled bу research commissioned by Microsoft stated thаt thеу dο Google potential candidates before selecting thеm for аn interview.  Successful job hunters know thіѕ аnd understand thеу need tο build multiple, οn-brand results ѕhοwіng thеіr thουght leadership іn thеіr field οf expertise.

Thеу mау blog; post comments οn high-ranking, relevant sites; microblog οn Twitter; build thеіr profile οn professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn and Google+, and more.  Many strategies exist fοr building online identity οn Google.  Successful job hunters know hοw tο еmрlοу strategies tο еіthеr remove thе digital dirt οr develop enough content tο push thе digital dirt tο page four οf thеіr Google results.

2) Thеу υѕе multiple strategies to find a job.

Successful job seekers understand thаt unless thеу hаνе a specific skill set, іt wіll bе difficult fοr thеm tο find a job utilizing јυѕt online job boards.  Between 4-10% οf people wіll find a position via a job board (source:  Whаt Color іѕ Yουr Parachute 2009).  Job boards аrе іmрοrtаnt piece, bυt thеу аrе nοt the οnlу strategy thаt ѕhουld comprise уουr job search marketing рlаn.

3) Thеу network online аnd offline.

Whіlе social networking online іѕ increasing іn popularity, іt іѕ іmрοrtаnt tο dο live networking аѕ οftеn аѕ possible.  It keeps уου іn thе loop аnd οn thе pulse οf whаt іѕ happening.  Remember tο always bе giving tο уουr network аnd thinking οf ways thаt Joe сουld hеlр Mary οr Mary сουld hеlр Steve.  Link уουr network members together tο add value іn thеіr lives.  Networking іѕ nοt аbουt reconnecting whеn уου need a job, bυt іѕ аbουt constantly maintaining relationships.

4) Thеу know thеіr references, hаνе аѕkеd permission, аnd hаνе coached thеm.

Successful job seekers hаνе аѕkеd permission tο list someone аѕ thеіr reference аnd hаνе coached thеm аbουt previous achievements / successes οn thе job.  It іѕ nοt telling a person whаt tο ѕау, bυt reminding thеm οf thе value уου hаνе provided.  Fοr someone acting аѕ a reference, thіѕ coaching іѕ helpful аѕ thаt person mау nοt remember hοw уου captured $2M іn sales bу identifying аnd penetrating nеw markets.  Coach thеm οn уουr top three achievements.

5) Thеу know thеіr resume іѕ nοt thе silver bullet.

Tοο οftеn, I hear people ѕау thаt іf thеу саn gеt a professionally written resume, іt wіll magically open doors tο gеt thеm a job.  Whіlе a professionally οr well written resume іѕ very іmрοrtаnt аѕ thіѕ іѕ usually thе first introduction οf whο уου аrе, іt іѕ nοt thе ticket tο a job offer.  Realize thаt few, іf аnу, people hаνе bееn hired οn thеіr resume alone.

Resumes hаνе tο bе customized tο highlight thе skills / abilities уου hаνе fοr thе job posting. Employers hаνе a “Buyers’ Market” rіght now аnd very few wіll try tο read between thе lines tο see hοw уου mау bе a potential match fοr thеm. It іѕ up tο уου tο demonstrate thіѕ through уουr resume аnd cover letter bу customizing fοr EACH position fοr whісh уου apply.

6) Thеу research thеіr target companies AND thеіr target companies’ competitors.

Successful job hunters nοt οnlу research thеіr target companies, bυt аlѕο find out information аbουt thе competing companies.  Whу?  It helps thеm tο know thе challenges facing thе targeted company іn outpacing thе competition аnd gives thеm material tο ѕhοw thе prospective employer HOW thеу саn dο thе job.

If аn interviewee shows up tο аn interview knowing thе top three problems facing thе company аnd hаѕ actionable items thаt саn mονе thе company forward, thеn thеу hаνе mаdе a lasting impression οn thе interviewer.  Dοеѕ іt guarantee a job offer?  Maybe nοt – bυt іt dοеѕ set thаt person apart frοm аll thе οthеr people whο hаνе come аnd јυѕt аnѕwеrеd a series οf qυеѕtіοnѕ.

7) Thеу write thank уου notes within 24 hours аftеr thеіr interview.

Surprisingly, οnlу 5% οf job hunters write a thank-уου note аftеr a job interview.  According tο CareerBuilder.com’s survey, “Hοw tο Gеt іn thе Front Door,” nearly 15% οf hiring managers ѕау thеу wουld nοt hire someone whο failed tο send a thank-уου letter аftеr thе interview. Intеrеѕtіnglу, 32% ѕау thеу wουld still consider thе candidate, bυt wουld thіnk less οf hіm/hеr.

Writing a thank уου аftеr аn interview wіll dеfіnіtеlу differentiate уου frοm thе crowd. More importantly, though, іѕ thаt іt demonstrates thе ability tο follow-through аnd see a task tο completion–thіѕ characteristic саn demonstrate thе kind οf employee one wіll bе tο a company.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I did a six-part series on goal setting and strategies for goals.  What happens if you set goals for yourself and work hard, but something happens that keeps you from reaching a goal?  What should you do?  Reassess, look ahead, and dream a new goal to help you reach your ultimate vision.  Sometimes we have a goal that for some reason or another doesn’t work and is not achieved.  Should we give up?  No!  See if there are other ways to reach that goal or ascertain if that goal was attainable.  At times, we have visions that may not work quite the way we thought they might, but actually are reached in a different way.For example, I heard a speaker tell the story of Mary McLeod Bethune.  She was born in 1875 in South Carolina and was African American.  She was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to Samuel and Patsy McLeod, who were both former slaves.  Many of her siblings were born into slavery.  She demonstrated a desire to learn to read and write and attended a one-room schoolhouse, Trinity Missions School.  Her vision was to be a missionary in Africa and teach school.  She worked very hard to reach this goal, but was told after years of hard study that her application was not accepted because missionaries who were African American were not needed.

Did she stop?  Not a chance!  She re-evaluated and decided a different way to reach her vision of teaching.  If she couldn’t teach in Africa, she could still reach her dream and teach in the U.S.  She opened a school in Daytona Beach, FL for girls in 1904 and had six students.  She made desks out of crates and obtained supplies from charity.  Bethune, parents, and church members raised money by making sweet
potato pies, ice cream, and fried fish and selling them to construction crews. Pencils were made from burned wood.  She also recruited wealthy business people to sit on the board including James Gamble of Procter and Gamble and Thomas White of White Sewing Machines.  She also raised funds for the school by talking to people like John D. Rockfeller who gave her a $62,000 donation in 1905.

By 1910, six short years later, the enrollment had risen to 102.  By 1920, the school’s value was appraised at $100,000 and the enrollment had risen to 351 students.  In 1923, the school merged with the Cookman Institute for Men and became co-educational.  In 2004, Bethune-Cookman University celebrated its 100-year anniversary.

When obstacles appear, don’t give up  hope – dream another way to fulfill your ultimate vision.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

The last topic in my series (but certainly there is more on the subject) is about your vision. What is it and how has it changed while you have been working? Think back to when you were in school. What did you want to become and why? Is your vision still the same?

I once heard a speaker talk about a teacher that hated her job. He asked her why and she retorted that she was merely a babysitter, disciplinarian, etc. Not the choice of words that are going to motivate someone, right? He asked her to go back to the time when she made the decision to become a teacher. What drove her to make that choice? She answered that she chose it to make a difference in children’s minds and that she wanted to inspire learning. He asked her if she thought she was fulfilling that vision and she answered that she was not. He then challenged her to list the goals she must achieve to make her vision a reality. She began excitedly talking about hands-on experiments, centers, field trips, etc. that would inspire her students to learn.

Have you let everyday challenges replace what was once your vision for your life? Revisit that vision, plan SMART goals, evaluate the often, and keep reaching beyond to achieve your dreams! Happy New Year 2012!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

LinkedIn announced the “Apply with LinkedIn” button for company career portals (6/1/11)

LinkedIn will be providing job seekers the ability to use an “Apply with LinkedIn” button in the future at career portals, thus dramatically simplifying the application process. This feature has recently launched, so you will want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is complete (for tips, check out Jason Alba’s book, “I’m on LinkedIn-Now What???”).

The benefits for a company to use the “Apply with LinkedIn” button is threefold: They can attract high quality candidates who may not have a resume readily available; they can easily see referrals and recommendations; and they can stand out by giving an additional, easy way for a job seeker to apply for their company.

For the job seeker, the button makes applying a breeze. Plus, the job seeker can then easily see if they have any connections with that particular company and if so, they can ask for a referral. Since networking accounts for ~60-80% of jobs landed, this is an excellent way to get your foot in the door!

Monster launched the “BeKnown” app – first move by a major job board to incorporate technology within a social media site (6/27/11)

One of my predictions is that social media will eventually become the forerunner to job boards. At one time, job searching was done via classifieds and word-of-mouth, but job boards soon became the forerunner.

Susan Whitcomb of Career Coach Academy has stated that her research found that an average Fortune 500 Company spent $1.2 million posting jobs on job boards. Now, a similar company might spend an average of $60,000 on LinkedIn and at this time, tweeting job postings on Twitter are free.

BeKnown works similarly to LinkedIn with the exception that it taps into your Facebook network to show you the connections you have on Facebook with your targeted companies. You can search for jobs on BeKnown without ever having to log out of your Facebook.

Google launches Google+ to compete with Facebook and Twitter (6/29/11)

As an early adopter of Google+, I can say that this time Google has definitely launched some hefty competition. You can start a hangout and video chat with up to 10 people, find relevant information in your industry or area of thought leadership through Sparks, and see/follow the stream of conversation that a post generates.

Google+ recently launched to the public. The interface is very user-friendly and since Facebook’s recent changes, Google+ grew 1269% during the week of 9/24/2011. According to Experian HitWise, Google+ ranks 8^th in social networks, following right behind LinkedIn and Twitter.

Google launches Tool for Online Reputation Management

Check out the tool on your Google Dashboard called “Me on the Web.” You can easily set up a search alert for your name so that you will receive an email when your name shows up on the Internet. Google also has a URL removal request tool in case there is digital dirt that you are having difficulty removing. However, Google determines whether or not this is a legitimate request.

The FTC gave the company, Social Intelligence, the green light to run social media background checks of a person’s Internet and social media history

Now more than ever, your online identity needs to be stellar. In December 2009, research commissioned by Microsoft found that 79% of U.S. hiring managers and job recruiters reviewed online information about potential job candidates. If someone Googled you, are they likely to find information that supports that personal brand for which you want to be known or not? Consider this-in this same study, they found that 70% of U.S. hiring managers have rejected candidates based on what they found online about that person. Information is used when you apply for a job or even college (study done by Kaplan in November 2010 found that 9% of business schools, 15% of law schools, and 14% of medical schools look at social networking sites to evaluate prospective students). What does Google say about you?

More and more companies, recruiters, employers, and admissions teams are utilizing your online identity as part of the criterion during the application process. Google your name (using quotation marks, i.e. “Kristen Jacoway”) and make sure that your results are on-brand and for which you want to be know.

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve covered some material that may be new to you, while some material may just be a refresher for you.  In any case, I hope that you are beginning to see the importance of setting goals.  William Arruda says, “Goals give your brand direction.”  Strong personal brands set goals for themselves and follow through.

Several coaches will use different tools to help you set goals for yourself in different aspects of your life such as financial, professional, physical, family, etc.  In my coach training program through Mentor Coach , Ben Dean created “The Pillars of a Balanced Life.”  Basically, in each of the 10 areas, you rated yourself from 0 – 10 (of course, 0 being the lowest).  We were then trained to take someone through it and find out how a ranking of a “2″ might become a “4″.  We take baby steps instead of saying, “How can you take this from a “2″ to a “10″?”–that might be overwhelming to most.

Goals are not something you do once a year, like on New Year’s Eve.  Studies have shown that less than 2% of people keep their New Year’s Resolutions!  Instead, you want to be evaluating at certain times if you’ve achieved your goals and if so, what is next?

I was a vocational rehabilitation counselor for many years and we used to help our clients write out Individualized Written Rehabilitation Programs.  We state the goal / objective, the resources to help attain that goal, the start date, the date to re-evaluate, the approximate end date, and the evaluation criterion.  I have helped over 500 people write these plans.  Contained in this plan are the components to writing your own goals.  Here’s an example to jump start your goal planning this year:

Objective / Goal:

Purpose of Goal:  by the way, make sure this is juicy enough to propel you forward in its’ achievement!

Resources that can help:

Start Date:

Evaluation Date:  this might be daily, weekly, monthly, etc.–determine what’s best for you.

End Date:

Evaluation Criterion:  i.e. how are you going to MEASURE your success!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Today, look at who you have chosen to help you achieve your goals.  Are they the type of people who will make you stretch to reach further and further or are they enablers?  By enablers, I mean are they people that will say, “Oh, it’s okay if you eat one more piece of chocolate–it’s not going to hurt you”, etc.  Surround yourself with people who will be your cheerleaders and share in your success, but also, will hold you accountable to your goals.

One reason coaching is so effective for people is because during coaching, you set the agenda for the goals you want to attain and your coach helps you to come up with actionable items to achieve these goals.  Most coaches will end the session by asking you for what you will be accountable for the following session.  If you don’t succeed in accomplishing those actionable items, your coach helps you to determine what obstacles occurred to prevent you from accomplishing these actionable items and will help you brainstorm ways to not let these road bumps get in your way again.  If you are successful, your coach will celebrate your success with you through supportive words, a card, etc.

To become a certified coach, I was required to be a client with a certified coach.  I look back on the experience as very valuable and hope to work with a coach in the future.  It was during this time that I achieved more goals and followed through on actionable items because I had someone for whom I was accountable on a weekly basis.

To whom are you accountable?  I wish you all the very best in achieving your 2012 goals and having a prosperous year!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

To recap, we’ve talked about goals being S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Frame Specific) and how you need to know the reasons / purposes behind your goals as well as the belief system you need to create to attain those goals.  Today, I wanted to focus on attainable goals.

Simply put, you want write your goals and understand that learning a new behavior to reach that goal (i.e. exercise) is going to take practice before you reach the level you are seeking.  If you haven’t exercised in a long time and the first day you over-do it by exercising 2 hours, then guess what?  You will be sore and your BELIEF system will unconsciously send the message that exercise=pain.  You want to take mini-steps to achieving the eventual goals.

I injured my ankle several months ago and have been unable to exercise due to surgery.  My goal is to workout for at least 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week.  However, I will probably start off exercising 10-15 minutes and giving myself permission to be okay with that amount of time.  As a former ballet dancer, my value is to be in good shape, so right now, I’m having to re-learn how to get into good shape and maintain it.

So many people give up on their goals because they mess up one or two days and they resonate the message that “I can’t do it–I always mess up–why even try?”  Be accountable to someone for your goals and remember that we all fall short from time to time.  Persevere and realize that you are going to have a bad day from time to time.  Look at what got in your way that day and what supports you can put in place to keep that obstacle from re-appearing.  Mine is simply having the treadmill set up and my pilates machine out.  I get up and workout in my PJs first thing in the morning.

Today, write out the mini-steps you will need to achieve your goal.  Make sure that they also follow the S.M.A.R.T. principles and that you reward yourself for a job well done.  Remember, practice makes perfect!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I did a post last week on goal setting, but wanted to follow-up with some strategies to employ when setting your goals.  Most people make New Year’s Resolutions and fail to follow through.  We discussed making your goals S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-frame specific).  If you have written your goals to match the S.M.A.R.T. rules, then you’ve done half the work.

What’s the other half?  Knowing the reason and purpose of WHY you have set these goals.  Are the reasons and purposes enough to propel you forward to achieve these goals? Furthermore, how many times have you set these goals for yourself only to not achieve them?

First, you must take a look at the underlying belief you have established about accomplishing these goals.  For example, if you achieve X then Y will happen.  Does Y contain the elements to make you want to commit to your goal?  If no, why not?

An example might be exercise.  If your underlying belief is that exercise equals pain, then what motivates you to go exercise?  Probably nothing and so the resolution or goal of exercising everyday goes out the window.

Now, if these underlying beliefs are what have prevented you from being successful in the past, what changes in your belief system can you make to achieve your goals?  If you changed the belief that exercise equals pain to one that exercise will energize you and make you feel better about yourself, are you motivated now?  You know it will, but  changing the BELIEF system from unconsciously associating it with pain to associating it with energy, vitality, etc. is what will propel you forward.

Are your goals S.M.A.R.T.?  What are your beliefs about your goals? Do you need to change any of your unconscious beliefs to achieve the goals of the past that have been broken repeatedly?  Write down your reasons, any associated beliefs, and the beliefs you MUST have to be truly successful this year!

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

If you never thought a little giving doesn’t go a long way, watch this video:

©2012 Kristen Jacoway | Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.