Career Design Coach

Build Your Google Results for Career Management – Book Reviews

Kristen Jacoway — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:00:44 +0000

One way to add a Google result to your name is to post book reviews for
books in your area of expertise. Accordingly, you want to demonstrate your thought leadership in these reviews and give a thoughtful, well-written commentary of the book. The book review will become part of your online identity and when a recruiter or employer googles your name, they will be able to read your book review.

When writing a book review, make sure you’ve read the book and don’t give a book a low rating because you’ve had problems with the shipping department or the book came in bad shape. Those are customer service concerns. I assure you that people who write books have spent many, many months writing and editing to provide a book that they feel is helpful or entertaining.

If you’ve read my book, “I’m in a Job Search–Now What???” please leave a comment on Amazon. I really would love to have the feedback from people who read the book.

photo credit: Олександр

How to Leverage Your Personal Brand in a Job Interview

Kristen Jacoway — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:37:06 +0000

With approximately 6.3 unemployed people per one job opening, it is critical to know your personal brand. How are you different than all of the people applying for job? Are you expressing and exuding your personal brand in all your offline and online communications?

Researching the company prior to an interview is key. Where can you find research information? LinkedIn, Hoovers, ZoomInfo, etc. are all great starting places. Did you know that when you search on LinkedIn for a company name you can find out really powerful information for your job search?

For example, I searched on Sun Microsystems. Most people know you are able to find out who you are connected to on LinkedIn who works for the company. However, did you know that you can find out about mergers and acquisitions, career path for employees before and after their employment with Sun, and so on? You can also scroll down and discover recent promotion and changes. Think about this one—you are looking at possible openings that may or may not have been published as opportunities within the company. So, this is a great way to tap the hidden job market.

Conduct a SWOT analysis to find out the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As you delve into this research, find out if the company is in a period of growth or a period of decline. For example, here’s one possible area where you might leverage your personal brand. Are you known for being a turnaround architect, growth catalyst, start-up accelerator, etc.? If you are a turnaround architect, for example, pursuing a job in a company in a period of decline may be something to which you are attracted.

In your Reach Personal Brand assessment and consulting / coaching process, you will uncover your top personas, your team role, strengths, and your leadership role. You will use this information to define your personal brand and paint a consistent story about who you are and how you can uniquely deliver your promise of value to a company. The information will help you create a branded resume’, a branded online and offline identity, and give you confidence in an interview because you know how you stand apart from your peers.

Ready to start? You can take a free, 15-day assessment at http://www.reachcc.com/360v4register.

“The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination” – J.K. Rowling

Kristen Jacoway — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:00:44 +0000

Dynamic commencement speech by J.K. Rowling at Harvard University. I found this video on a favorite blog, Being Unemployed Sucks.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Online Identity Tip

Kristen Jacoway — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:33:52 +0000

Are you posting comments on other people’s blogs? This is a great way to build online Google results if done correctly and can really highlight your expertise in a certain subject matter. However, if you post negative, critical comments that are published and become part of your online identity, it could hurt you in a job search. Research shows that some of the reasons for eliminating a potential candidate from a job could stem from an unflattering photo posted on the web, digital dirt, critical or negative comments made by you, and so on. Check your online identity–google yourself by placing your name in quotations. What comes up? Is there anything that might make a potential employer or recruiter flinch if they saw it? If so, try to remove it or push it past page 3 of your Google search results. Many strategies exist to do this and you can find more information in “I’m in a Job Search — Now What???“

One Mistake that Job Seekers Have in Common

Kristen Jacoway — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:34:30 +0000

Privacy Director on your phone. I have privacy director on my phone and I
know how convenient it is to be able to screen out blocked calls. However, when you are in a job search / career transition, having your privacy director turned on may cost you an opportunity. Why? Many recruiters are home-based and will *67 their phone or have their phone number appear unlisted when they are calling potential candidates for the obvious reason that they do not want to be called back at their home office. So, while it may be temporarily a nuisance to turn off your privacy director, it may be worthwhile-especially if your privacy director requires that the person type in their phone number for the phone call to go through. Make sure that you are making it easy for recruiters and potential employers to reach you.

Technorati Tags: Job Search, Careers, Employment, Kristen Jacoway, Career Design Coach

Small Business Branding – Pulling it All Together – Part 7 of 7

Kristen Jacoway — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:41:50 +0000

In this last video of the seven-part series on Small Business Branding (also, applicable to people in career management or a job search), Kirsten Dixson of http://www.kirstendixson.com and a recent guest on the “Today” show, pulls together the key points of building a strong Small Business Brand. All seven videos are available on the Career Design Coach blog as well as the Facebook Fan Page.

Technorati Tags: Kirsten Dixson, Personal Branding, Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Job Seekers, Careers, Kristen Jacoway, Career Design Coach

Small Business Branding – Part 6 – Creating On-Brand Content

Kristen Jacoway — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:02:52 +0000

Kirsten Dixson (http://www.kirstendixson.com) discusses in this video about creating on-brand content to reach your target audience. Again, this information is very applicable to job seekers who are utilizing blogging and other communication vehicles online for career management.

Defining Your Visual Brand Identity – Part 5 of Small Business Branding

Kristen Jacoway — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:31:35 +0000

In this video, Kirsten Dixson (http://www.kirstendixson.com) discusses Visual Brand Identity and includes information on how the personal branding process helps you define your brand colors, fonts, imagery, textures, logo, and tag line. This information is also very helpful for people in career management or in a job search.

Technorati Tags: Kirsten Dixson, Personal Branding, Small Business, Entrepreneur, Job Seeker, Careers, Kristen Jacoway, Career Design Coach

How to Reach Your Target Audience with Your Message – Small Business Branding Part 4

Kristen Jacoway — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:24:12 +0000

In this video, Kirsten Dixson of http://www.kirstendixson.com and a recent guest on the “Today” show discusses how to develop your communication wheel to reach your target audience with your message.

Technorati Tags: Small Business, Personal Branding, Communications, Kirsten Dixson, Reach Communications, Kristen Jacoway, Career Design Coach

Small Business Branding – Part 3 – Defining Your Niche

Kristen Jacoway — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:28:23 +0000

Kirsten Dixson illustrates in this video how to define your target audience and niche. Kirsten Dixson is a trainer for the Reach Communications Personal Branding Certification program and has recently appeared on the “Today” show.