Why should I connect with you on LinkedIn?

Terri Bishop — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:55:59 +0000

Would you walk up to a person and immediately ask them for their business card? You probably would not do this. So, why would you send an invitation on LinkedIn to connect with someone without an introduction? And, yet, people do this everyday.

If you want to connect with someone, let them know how you know them. Generally, I don’t connect with people I have not met in person or virtually, but if you write me a nice introductory letter I probably will. If you have not had contact with someone for a while, remind them how you know each other. Having a good profile picture will help, too.

I always send a short message, even to people I know, when I want to connect. It is a friendly thing to do. Don’t use the standard generic default message that LinkedIn provides. It is impersonal.

LinkedIn is simply a tool used to facilitate connections among people. Manners still apply.

Most Common Mistake on LinkedIn Profile

Terri Bishop — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:42:49 +0000

Do you have a blog or website that you list on your LinkedIn Profile? If you are like most of the profiles on LinkedIn, you are missing an opportunity to promote it. Most people are not aware of this.

Here is the area on LinkedIn to complete:

When you click on the link, you have a dropdown menu to select from. Most people select the “My Website” option which doesn’t give you options for what text to display. If you select the “Other” option, you then get an option to select text for your website as below:

Put the name of your website in the text box area after you have selected Other from the dropdown menu. Don’t you think having your website name instead of “My Website” will get readers to actually click on the link? If nothing else, they might remember your website name.

I learned how to do this from the famous Jason Alba of JibberJobber.com when he spoke at the Launchpad Job Club speaker series in Austin. Jason is a great guy!

Go fix your LinkedIn profile!

Attitude is Everything!

Terri Bishop — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:25:49 +0000

It’s the New Year and we are surrounded by resolutions we should be making and new habits we should be adopting. I have a wish list of behaviors that I would like to see more of and especially among job seekers. Having a great attitude will take you a long way in life and for sure in your career. Look at the list below and think about if you do this on a regular basis.

1. Be positive – We all are worried about paying the bills, myself included. I try very hard to remain positive and be optimistic. Being around positive people helps with that. Being around negative people makes me want to jump off a cliff. It’s okay to be scared, whining about it doesn’t help.

2 Be grateful – We are lucky that there are a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people willing to help us with job contacts, advice, etc. Be sure and always acknowledge and thank someone that has helped you in some way. When someone has answered your question on a discussion group, connected you with someone, or just offered to help, be sure and thank them. This seems obvious to some of you, but it seems to be not common practice based upon my experience.

3. Try to help others – Engage in LinkedIn Groups, email lists, blogs, twitter, etc. Don’t just surf and read. Offer your tips or connections. The more you give, the more you get. Really! I belong to a lot of different kind of lists and LinkedIn groups. The ones focusing on job seekers seem to have the least amount of participation. Why is that?

Attitude is contagious. What kind of attitude are you spreading?

Top 5 Twitter Mistakes made by Job Hunters

Terri Bishop — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:39:45 +0000

Twitter is an excellent tool for connecting with people you might not ordinarily get to. Since you can follow anyone, it is more open than LinkedIn or Facebook. It is a powerful tool for building relationships if used CORRECTLY.

When you follow someone, they get a message telling them that your Twitter id is following them. Most people will click on that link to see who you are and what you are about. This is probably the last time they will see information about you, so you do not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Below are mistakes I see everyday that are missed opportunities for the offenders:

1. Not filling out your bio – This where you are telling the Ttwitter world who you are and what you do. It is an excellent area to put what kind of job you are looking for. You have 160 characters, use them!

2. List your website – If you don’t have a website or blog, use your LinkedIn profile URL.

3. Not having a picture – Your picture is what puts the human behind your tweets. It helps people get to know you and recognize you. You should use a face shot of you and you only, not your dog, spouse, partner, car, etc.

4. Tweeting about self absorbed things – In spite of what you have heard and may think, Twitter is not about posting whatever you are eating. No one cares. Would you walk into a party and immediately start talking about yourself? I hope not. It is about sharing data and engaging in conversations. Share links to articles you think are interesting. See what people you follow are tweeting about and contribute.

5. Profanity – Call me old fashioned, but if you are looking for a job, you should not use profanity on Twitter. Remember, anyone can see your tweeps (unless you have protected them), and seeing you rant about something does not paint a good picture of someone an employer would want working at their company.

What does your Twitter bio look like?

Are you lying on your resume/LinkedIn profile?

Terri Bishop — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:04:03 +0000

I’m sure your first response to this question is ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! We have been taught that your resume represents you in your career history and your integrity. A lot of your job information can be verified, so DO NOT LIE!

Guess what? A lot of job seekers are lying. *Gasp*

If you have not updated your job history on your resume, and/or your LinkedIn profile to reflect that you are not employed, you ARE LYING!

Many job seekers think they have a better chance if they “appear” to be working so their resumes/LinkedIn profiles show their last job as their current job. If you get contacted by a recruiter, the first thing you are going to have to tell them is your resume/profile is not correct. How is that going to make you look? You are going to appear as either too lazy to update or trying to deceive the reader? Is this really the impression you want to give?

Are you a liar?

10 Things Job Seekers should do while things are slow

Terri Bishop — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:18:13 +0000

The job search slows down at the end of the year, but this is a great time to do some cleanup work on some of your job search tools. Get everything spruced up and ready to go when the new year starts.

1. Is your LinkedIn profile completely filled out? If not, get on it!

2. When is the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? Are you using keywords throughout so recruiters can find you? Are you selling yourself with your summary?
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/12/is-your-linkedin-profile-working-for-you/)

3. Reach out to contacts you haven’t talked to in a while, connect with them on LinkedIn.

4. Research some companies on LinkedIn and find some new target companies you want to work for.

5. Join some groups on LinkedIn – get involved in the discussions.
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/12/best-kept-secret-of-linkedin-groups/)

6. Answer some questions on LinkedIn – show your expertise.

7. Revise your online resume headline on the job boards – add some keywords, make your resume stand out.
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/06/4-your-resume-headline/)

8. Update all your modification dates on your online resumes.
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/06/3-help-your-online-resume-be-found/)

9. Have someone look at your resume – they might see some items that could be reworded that you might not notice.
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/06/resume-blunders/)

10. Add more power verbs to your resume.
(http://www.hireaustin.org/2009/07/7-common-sins-of-a-resume/)

Good luck to everybody in the New Year!

Hire Austin is on Facebook

Terri Bishop — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:48:06 +0000

Join our Hire Austin Facebook Fan Page! Are you using Facebook for job search? Are you a recruiter using Facebook to find candidates. Share your stories with other fans.

I don’t hear much about Facebook in the job search process like I hear about LinkedIn and Twitter. I will be looking for information on how people are using this tool to find jobs.

Click Here to join the Hire Austin Fan Page

Best Kept Secret of LinkedIn Groups

Terri Bishop — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:43:09 +0000

Are you a member of any LinkedIn Groups? If not, you should take advantage of this LinkedIn feature. Why? One of the best features of Groups is you can directly contact ANY member in the group. You do not have to be connected to them.

If you are looking for contacts in your industry, join a group that is in that industry or a related industry. Go to the Group Directory in LinkedIn and search for groups you are interested in. Most memberships have to be approved before you are a member. Sometimes it takes the moderator a while to approve your membership. You can contact the owner of the group and express your interest in joining their group to help speed up the process. Be sure and be polite!

Most of the groups have ongoing discussions. This is also another excellent way to start conversing with people in your industry and building new relationships. Some of them also post jobs.

You are allowed to be a member of 60 groups, so go and build your contact list exponentially!

Hire Austin has a group, too! Join and meet other Austin based cool people!

Want to make your LinkedIn Headline Stand Out?

Terri Bishop — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:28:42 +0000

Your headline is the text that appears underneath your name in LinkedIn. This is the area where you need to SELL yourself and entice the recruiter to read your profile. This area shows up in the search results. The recruiter has typed in some keywords looking for candidates. They get hundreds of results back. You want to have something in your headline that makes you STAND OUT from the rest of the profiles.

Almost everyone uses this space to put their job title whether they have a job or not. If you choose to do this, make sure it’s specific. Putting software engineer really doesn’t give much information as to what kind of software engineer you are. List language expertise, specialties like QA, or applications. A lot of people think they need to put a company name here. You are a software engineer whether or not you have a job. Don’t let a job define who you are.

I also have seen some people list their contact information in this space. I don’t think this is a good use for this area. A recruiter will probably have access to your profile (with upgraded memberships) if you show up in their network (the good ones have HUGE networks). If someone really wants to contact you, they can simply ask to connect and explain why. Use this area instead to sell yourself.

Your headline is the area that gives you a chance to shine. It gives you a chance to stick out among all the other hundreds of people with your skill set. It is an area to show your value to a future employer. Think about terms that recruiters looks to find people with your expertise. List these terms in this area. If you need help, look at job descriptions that you apply to. Soft skills are great things to list here. Having programming skills is great, but if you can ALSO communicate well, you will stand out. Make it about a potential future employer NOT about you.

You have 120 characters in this space – use it!!!!! You can get creative and use other characters like *, |, <>. Mixing UPPER CASE with mixed case helps words stick out. Think outside the box!

This is an area that is easy to tweak and you should. Don’t just change it and forget about it. Keep adjusting it as you get more ideas. The more active you are on LinkedIn, the more likely someone will look at your profile.

Take a look at your headline, would you read your story?

Are You Unemployed Game Show?

Terri Bishop — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:51:31 +0000

This video is funny and true. I always wonder how the Department of Labor gets their statistics. They always reference the people who gave up looking for work. Who gives up?? We don’t have a choice, we have to keep looking if we want to eat and pay rent.