Nobody is talking about you because there is nothing to say

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Personal Branding. Does that phrase make you cringe, or is it exciting? There is a lot of talk and hype about personal branding.  Some people treat it like it’s the missing key to professional success. Let me share one concept that I’ve learned the hard way over the years: If you want people to know…

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Does Your Job Search Hurt?

job search

My wife and I were talking about a famous vocalist and about he she sings about who she is, her life, her experiences. She clearly loves what she does.  And her audience easily connects with her.  Her personal life and her work life seems congruent.  What a blast! In contrast, when I started my job…

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Writing Your Own Letter of Recommendation

write your own letter of recomendation

When I got laid off I went to a boss I had worked under for a number of years and asked him for a letter of recommendation.  He immediately agreed and enthusiastically started writing something. Later that day he gave me a two page letter of recommendation. It was horrible. It was mostly a letter…

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Can’t Get Informational Interviews? Maybe it is your approach…

Informational Interviews

Today on my JibberJobber blog I wrote about Wayne who graciously shared his technique for trying to get informational interviews (or, time on the phone with people in his field). Wayne is doing some things right, some things wrong, but not getting any results he wants. The comments are awesome.  Career professionals are weighing in,…

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What you can learn from 382 recruiters chasing a fake candidate

recruiters chase a fake candidate

On the Recruiting Animal’s Facebook page he shared a link to this: The inside story of how 382 recruiters pursued an imaginary engineer There is a lot to learn from this write-up.  Even though it is for recruiters to learn, I think we can learn a lot, too.  Some things I took away (there are…

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Killer Personal Branding Story: Jacob Share

Jacob Share is a friend of mine who runs JobMob.  I had never heard the story that he blogged about yesterday titled The Best Personal Branding Story You Haven’t Heard, where he talks about how he got his first consulting client. This is one of the coolest, most clever things I’ve heard someone do. It…

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The Most Important Interview Question EVER

what is THE most important interview question

Don’t you love these posts… what is THE most important interview question? I think it depends on the company, industry, culture, and unfortunately the person asking the questions.  I say unfortunately because in my experience they are untrained, whimsical, and filled with prejudice and bias.  There’s nothing like going into an interview totally prepared and…

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Alternative Ideas to Video Resumes

are video resumes worth it?

So someone hyped video resumes and you want to know more. I am not big on the concept… as a hiring manager I’m not sure I’m going to watch a 2 minute low-quality, poorly done “video resume.” Are there alternatives? Yes. If you are hoping to send a video instead of a resume (or Profile),…

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Video Resumes vs. Video Interviews

Video Interviews

We’re going to hear more about video interviews over the next year or two.  When I first clicked on this link I thought they were talking about video resumes. It’s easy to mix the two up.  Let me describe the difference so you know which has merit and which is all fluff. Video Interviews are…

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Build it and they will come: Phooey.

Does your linkedin profile need a makeover

I hear people say “I am on LinkedIn but it doesn’t do anything for me.” They heard about LinkedIn, put up a week Profile (Career Resumes LinkedIn Makeovers), and sat around waiting. They built it, but no one came.  And then they complain that LinkedIn doesn’t work. I started my business (JibberJobber.com) almost seven years…

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