Lessons from Jamie Varon's Hire Me Campaign

Back in March, I wrote a "Tale of Two Hire Me Campaigns," a post which featured two very different "guerrilla job search" web-based campaigns: MyHusbandNeedsaJob.com and TwitterShouldHireMe.com.

Both websites received a lot of national attention: MyHusbandNeedsaJob.com was featured on CNN online and reported interest from Oprah and Dr.Phil; Jamie Varon, the creator of TwitterShouldHireMe.com has been featured in Fortune Magazine, interviewed by CNN, and had talks with the Ellen Show. (She had a great lunch at Twitter, and is now working to establish her own business after fielding several employment offers.)

Obviously, "Hire Me" campaigns such as these initiatives are not for the shy or the reserved: they require a certain amount of risk, bravado, and transparency. As such, I thought I'd ask one of our protagonists:  Is there a price to pay for all of this sudden attention? Has it been worth it? What do you wish you had known?

Here is my interview with Jamie Varon, creator of TwitterShouldHireMe.com.

Jamie, Chris Brogan recently wrote a post on the rise of microfame or the ability to use social media platforms to become famous within your area of expertise or for something you've done.  Jamie, with all the attention you've received, I think it's now fair to say that you are in fact microfamous.

A few questions:

1. Were you prepared for the surge of attention--and microfame--that came with the debut of "TwitterShouldHireMe.com"?

I wouldn't say that I was exactly prepared, but I wasn't unprepared as well. I was hoping that it would take off the way that it did, but I wasn't expecting it. It made it a pleasant surprise that it did launch and gather so much attention.

2. How did you deal with the traffic? What were the hardest things about it?

The traffic was intensely exciting. The hard part was dealing with the critics and a lot of the anonymous comments that were posted on the site. I had to moderate a bit and for a few days I held my breath every time I checked the comments. Some were just downright cruel and inappropriate. I tried to handle it as best I could, but it definitely got to me.

3. Is there anything that you wish someone had told you, but weren't prepared for?

I wish there was a way to know how to capitalize on and utilize microfame. It's very exciting while it's happening, but difficult to translate into anything lasting. That would have been nice to know.

4. Would you do it again?

Absolutely, no doubt, 100% yes.

5. What would you do differently?

I would have created something that would be more lasting. There's not much more I can do with the site and there's not much I can update there. It's difficult to see all that traffic come and then go, because I didn't find a great way to keep them in any one place.

6. What advice would you have for someone else attempting an aggressive "hire me" campaign? Do you recommend the "public" approach (the path you took)? Do you have other suggestions as well that might suit more reserved job seekers?

I think that a public, aggressive "hire me" campaign should be used with caution and should fit the context of the position you are looking for. Sometimes this approach just doesn't suit the industry or position one is searching for, so in this respect, standing out publicly like I did wouldn't be the best option.

For more reserved job seekers, I would suggest becoming clear on what position or industry you want to be in (preferably be clear on both!) and then zone in on how to get their attention. Too often people scatter their job searching efforts instead of focus and they end up spreading themselves thin and probably not getting the job they want.

7. What's your favorite one sentence piece of career advice?

There's always going to be a reason to settle, so don't start today.

I expect we'll be hearing more about Jamie Varon in years to come. In the interim, check out her company Shatterboxx and her personal blog, Intersected. (And Jamie, thanks for sharing?)

P.S. Does anyone know whether to put a hyphen in microfamous? I'm a fanatic about spelling, and  micro-famous looks better to me. But since it's a relatively new term, I am following Chris Brogan's lead on this--and he says "microfamous." Any thoughts on this?

3 Strategies for Using LinkedIn to Boost Your Job Search

There's a common consensus among many in the white collar world that LinkedIn is to the business community what Facebook is to friends: it's a great tool for social networking, and can land you your next job.

Many people use LinkedIn as a directory of contacts, but the site can be used for multiple ways--and more than one job seeker I've talked to has the used the site to land their next job. This is the second in a three part series on "almost hidden" features of LinkedIn.

The first installment answered the question, "why use LinkedIn?"

Today's tip: three strategies for moving your job search forward.

1. Search and Research

Steve Martin has a great line about how to conquer writer's block: he says it's okay to read work from other people and borrow a sentence (but only a sentence) to get started. I don't believe in plagiarism, but I do think seeing how other people present themselves can help you get unstuck in revising your resume.

Use the "Search People" engine to search for profiles of individuals who have pre-existing work experience in your area of interest. View their career trajectories, observe how they describe their work, and pick up tips for how you might revise your own materials.

2. Connect and expand your network. Your next job is likely to come from "weak ties" (read the above-mentioned post from Keppie Careers about why these ties are important).

Participating in LinkedIn groups and "Q and A" are great ways to engage with additional people and make new contacts. Introductions can be equally helpful.

Request an introduction to people who interest you--especially those within two degrees of your network. (Tip: Be specific, succinct, and prepared in any outreach you make. Here's great advice from Penelope Trunk on how to get an answer out of an e-mailed question.)

3. Avoid the Black Hole (Reach out and let 'em know you've applied.

Virtually everyone I know refers to the online application process of applying for jobs as a black hole. "It's so anonymous, I feel like there's no chance my application will ever get read." The plain truth: it may be the equivalent of swallowing vile-tasting cough syrup to conquer a chest cold; you have to do it in order to meet your end-goal. In most companies, you can't even be considered as an applicant until you formally apply online.

But through the JobsInsider tool, you can view position listings—and then explore potential contacts that you know within the company of interest. Once you know, “who you know” or how you’re connected, you can then develop a 1-2 punch for your application (you can both apply for the position, then follow-up with your contact to let them know you’ve applied or follow-up with a contact and ask questions before you apply). Either way, LinkedIn helps you increase the chances that your resume will be seen and evaluated.

Five Must-Reads of 2008

As we welcome 2009, here are five must-reads of 2008 that will help you stay ahead of the curve:

1. It's tough to make a resolution that sticks if you're putting up with something that's always in the way. In I Hated My Lawnmower, author Jason Alba provides a lesson in the satisfaction that can come from fixing a simple but nagging problem.
2. If you're not on LinkedIn yet, you should be. Statistics on successful job searches routinely show that at least 60% of job offers come from networking, and LinkedIn is the granddaddy of social networking apps (some call it "Facebook" for grown-ups). Here are tips on how to write your LinkedIn profile for your future from social media whiz Chris Brogan.
3. If you're applying for a front office position--or seeking positions in a very competitive field-- you'll want to differentiate yourself. I recommend subscribing to Dan Schawbel's personal branding blog. (Note: If you decide your job search strategy should include starting a blog of your own, see his tips on how to do this.)
4. Do They Care About Your Personal Brand? As important as it is to differentiate yourself and stand out amongst other candidates in the actual job search, employers search and hires based on their own needs. This piece by Louise Fletcher, founder of Career Hub and Owner of Blue Sky Resumes, is a great reminder of the need for balance between branding and positioning yourself to meet employer requirements and mission critical demands.
5. 10 Ways You Stop Yourself from Getting the Right Job. In a tough economy, it's easy to shy away from the job market or feel overwhelmed. Don't. London-based Sital Ruparelia's tips will help you keep a stiff upper lip and keep your career moving forward!

To Your Success,
Chandlee

Taking Advantage of a Gap in Resolutions...

Recently MyGoals.com released results of their annual survey on New Year's Resolutions. The findings: fewer people will make job or career-related resolutions in 2009.

Could it be that  "The Year of Living Gloomily" has led to a sense of hopelessness? Are you thinking "I won't find a job if I look, so I might as well not go there..."

Resist the temptation to be an ostrich and dig your head in the sand. When people stay out of the game, there's a silver lining: less competition!

I dare you to look for a job anyway. You can get started with a single question designed for the times: 

What do employers most need and how can I provide it? 

Craft your application and skill development around the answer to this challenge and you'll improve your chances of landing a new position.

Here's a free e-book on Resolutions that Work from Serge Prengel at Proactive Change.com to help jumpstart your resolve.

Cheers and best wishes for a successful 2009,
Chandlee

Where the Jobs Are, How to Stay Out of Your Own Way

This fall has been fascinating, challenging, and occasionally exhausting. Living in New York, I've had a front row view of domino-effect of changes on Wall Street which has been supplemented through work with individual job seekers and a consulting gig at a university with a strong campus recruiting program.

On occasion, I've been at a loss for words. Many of the "safe industries" that I have traditionally recommended to students and young professionals--healthcare, government, biomedical, IT--have also taken some very public hits. (When Dow Chemical announced major layoffs, it really made me nervous--especially since chemical engineers had the highest starting salary of any 2008 graduates due to the "need" for their skills.) 

I've spent a lot of time talking to individual job seekers, and I've noticed a similar response to the economy, "I'm going to stop looking now, because I don't see how I can possibly find a job in this market." I've heard this response from current college students, young professionals, and the recently laid-off. I call this response, the "boa constrictor" because it reminds me of Shel Silverstein's poem about being swallowed by a giant snake:

I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor,
And I don't like it--one bit.
Well, what do you know?
It's nibblin' my toe.
Oh, gee,
It's up to my knee.
Oh my,
It's up to my thigh.
Oh, fiddle,
It's up to my middle.
Oh, heck,
It's up to my neck.
Oh, dread,
It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .

It's easy to personalize the economy: i.e. " layoffs and hiring freezes at <<insert company name>> mean I'll never land a new job. I'm going to get clobbered in this market. I have no chance."

DON'T LET YOURSELF THINK LIKE THIS. It is the equivalent of letting yourself get swallowed by a boa constrictor.

In reality, employers are still hiring. Perhaps not in the same volume or with the sexiest salaries ever--but there are still opportunities. And pursuing new opportunities is much better than staying home and putting yourself out of the game altogether.

In that vein here are two great posts providing tips on "where the jobs are" :

Reasons to Give Thanks: There is No Shortage of Jobs for Young People (Penelope Trunk)

Bright Spots in the Bad Economy: Five Places to Look for Jobs Right Now (Lindsey Pollak)

And one article on how not to stand in your own way.

Ten Ways You Stop Yourself from Getting the Right Job (Sital Ruperalia on Career Hub)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what's working--and what hasn't worked.

To Your Success,
Chandlee

The Value of Being Curious

One of my favorite lines from Alice and Wonderland is "Curiouser and curiouser." I've forgotten when she says it in the story, but I'll never forget when my cousin, Zoe, first heard the phrase. Even at the tender age of five, she just knew it was important--and fun--to be curious. "I'm curiou-ker and curiou-ker" she shouted as she ran around the house.

She's held onto that idea. Last week, I talked to her after her basketball practice and she told me all the things she was learning to stay on top of her game. On Sunday, I talked to her mom and she told me she'd been the star player in her latest matches.

In my own life, I'm  "curiou-ker and curiou-ker" about careers. I love to ask people what they do, what they like about it, and to investigate pockets of supply and demand in terms of job functions and the overall employment market. I call it fun.

I also read blogs about careers, and one of my favorites is Penelope Trunk's The Brazen Careerist blog. She always makes me think, and so do the Gen Y bloggers at her company. I've never met her, but I love her voice. She's got a great style, and she seems to say exactly what's on her mind--especially when it's controversial. I love that, but am more deliberative by nature and nurture. (I was born in Texas and own multiple pairs of boots, but worked in academia for years and became cautious about what was "said" and what is left "unsaid."). In spite of--and perhaps because of--our differences, I love reading Penelope's work. Sometimes I disagree with her, but often I think she's spot-on in her advice.

Today, she writes about learning--and the value and importance of being curious in our current recession.

People who are always curious and always learning are keeping the recession from killing their career trajectory. You don't need to have a job to be learning, you don't need to have a great title to be stretching your skills. And really, really, you don't need to go to graduate school and earn a degree to prove that you are learning.  In fact, maybe you need to take a job you're not thrilled with, but remember that no one can dictate your learning curve. You control that.

I couldn't have said it myself. What are you curious about? And how do you show the world about your curiosities?

Decision 2008 (Yours to Move Forward)

I am pleased to announce that I have been invited to participate in Job Action Day, a pre-election event hosted by QuintCareers.com. The purpose of the event is a "call to action" for job seekers by sharing resources written and recommended by career experts.

Here's a link to more information about the event (as well as tips provided):

http://www.quintcareers.com/attacking_job_market.html

Lindsey Pollak, my colleague, friend and author of College to Career, recommends taking one small step each day to further your career. This week--I challenge you to do the same; for seven days put your job search in the same must-do list as brushing your teeth. Keep a list of what you do, and watch what happens next...

Contact me and let me know what you've done and how you've seen progress. Any strategies you recommend or don't recommend for other job seekers?

To your success,
Chandlee

Getting Hired at a Start-Up: How to Be More than Lucky

If you are in the market for a new job and the Fortune 500 crowd isn’t appealing—or available,
you may want to consider a start-up.

The speed and intensity of start-ups are appealing to many job candidates. Interns and entry-level hires often extol the common virtues of working in an early-stage company: you get to assume diverse functional responsibilities, you are valued for your ability to take initiative and figure things out on your own, and you are able to work closely with senior leadership from the get-go.

That being said, the same organizational attributes that make a start-up sexy can often make it difficult to get hired in the first place: hiring is often placed on the back burner simply because it takes too long—and there isn’t enough time to move through the process.

Several years ago, I was a career counselor at the University of Pennsylvania and received a unique first-hand glimpse at the hiring process from a Wharton School alum who had just received generous angel funding. When asked about his hiring process, this was his response,

When we first started we got some great press in major news outlets and we received an enormous amount of resumes which we just stacked up—the pile grew to over two feet. One day, we were finally ready to interview candidates and I said to my partner, ‘How do we make the first cut? What should we look for?’

He grinned at me, walked over to the pile and said, ‘I have a minimum criterion for all of our candidates: they all have to have one thing in common. They have to be lucky.’

He pulled out two inches of resumes, and threw away the remaining ones. And that is how we started the hiring process.

My take-away from this anecdote: there is less uniformity in the hiring process in a start-up environment, particularly as the Federal reporting requirements for employers with a small number of employees are less stringent than in large organizations.

If you want to work in a start-up, you’ll want to be more than lucky—you need to be noticed and in the right place at the right time. Here are three tips to get started:

1. Companies don’t know how interested you are until you tell them. Learn all you can about what the company is doing and mention your interest when you apply.
2. Make it easy for a company to hire you—i.e. if you have a contact within the organization, submit your materials to that person—but also monitor the “careers” website of the organization and submit your materials that way. (This streamlines the process for them, and speeds up the hiring process).
3. Be persistent in the follow-up—and be prepared to get started if an opportunity becomes available.

(Note: These tips are transferable, and can be used in the general job search as well.)

The Pick Three Approach to Your Career

Recently, I talked to "Adam," a college senior who was disappointed at having not received any on-campus interviews for full-time positions in investment banking (several of his friends had received multiple interview invitations prior to the news of turmoil at Lehman Brother and Merrill Lynch).

Despite the market trends, I could understand Adam's frustration: he had a strong GPA, two banking internships and two government internships under his belt. To emphasize his experience in corporate finance and government, I suggested he create two separate sections in the "work experience" category of his resume.

Adam looked surprised, particularly as a Senior VP at one of the major Wall Street banks had advised him not to draw attention to his government experience as it wasn't relevant. We talked about the hot button issue of the month--the relationship between government and investment banking--and changed course. Instead of hiding the government experience, it became a point of differentiation: he would market himself as an attractive candidate precisely as his experience in the two sectors helped him gain a wider perspective on the issues--and the stakes--of a potential bailout. In addition, his experience had essentially enabled him to diversify: if he chooses to, he can apply his skills in financial analysis in government or in other "in-house" positions across industry sectors--he just needs to research opportunities and articulate why he is interested.

Prior to starting my own private practice, I spent nine years working with students on college campuses. Adam reminded me of my previous observations of the similarities between applying for jobs and lotto tickets:

Your chance of winning goes up if you participate in the game. (If you don't apply, it's hard to be selected for an interview).

Your odds of getting picked--or passed over--are directly affected by the volume of applications received. (Even at the campus level, the process can be very competitive with hundreds of applications received for one interview schedule. You can be well qualified and have a great resume and cover letter, and still not be selected for an interview.)

Your chances of winning increase slightly if you diversify. (If you buy more than one ticket, there is a better chance you'll win. If you apply to multiple positions in your area of interest, there's a better chance that you'll be selected for an interview.)

Here is where the lottery analogy ends:

The job search process is more than a game of luck. In any market, you increase your chances of success by researching opportunities, assessing company and market needs, and presenting your skills and experience concisely and clearly within the context of the industry and the position in which you hope to work.

My advice to Adam was to continue to pursue his interests in banking and government. In addition, I suggested that he could further increase his odds by identifying both positions and an additional industry sector to follow.

In short, I advocate using a "pick three" approach to recession-proof the job search process. Here's how this works.

1. Pick a functional area (i.e. Financial, Communications, Marketing). Stay up to speed on current trends. Professional associations are a great way to build connections and increase your knowledge of opportunities.

2. Select at least two or three positions within your functional area. Validate your interest by conducting informational interviews with people who currently work in that capacity.

3. Select two or more industry sectors to follow, including at least one "growth sector." (This press release on average starting salaries provides clues on hot industries.)Use Web 2.0 research strategies such as "Google News Alerts" and setting up RSS feeds to follow your industries-and key players within the industries. This will help you get a read on current trends and your employment prospects within a particular industry.

Follow this "Pick Three" approach to narrow the scope of your search and increase your opportunities of getting hired--even in a tight market.

Cross posted on Career Hub.

Facebook: Who's Searching It and Why

It's hard to believe, but Facebook is less than five years old; this month, the social media networking platform will celebrate it's second anniversary of being open to the general public! Five years seems like a very short-time when you consider that the site now has over 100 million users and is reported to be the fifth most accessed online site.

I used to have a love-hate relationship with Facebook: as a career counselor, I have spent a great deal of the past four years advising clients to be very wary of what they posted online since employers and other potential contacts frequently search the site for "evidence" prior to making an offer.

Then I opened an account myself, and within the week--I was hooked, and happy to be back in touch with old friends from grade school to former colleagues.

Over this past week, Computer World reported on the results of a Career Builder survey. The title of the piece: "One in five employers uses social networks in the hiring process." At first glance, the survey appears to confirm my previous suspicions--according to the survey, over one third of employers say that they have rejected candidates based on what they've found online. The top reasons for "rejections" (40% respectively) were inappropriate photos and other evidence of substance use/abuse.

While the headline to the Computer World survey repeated the precautionary message about exercising discretion when posting to Facebook, I find a silver lining and harbinger of what's to come in via a sidenote:

The study did find that 24% of hiring managers found content on social networks that helped convince them to hire a candidate. Hiring managers said that profiles showing a professional image and solid references can boost a candidate's chances for a job.

At this stage in the game, I'd never advise anyone to unsubscribe from Facebook in order to avoid employer scrutiny. Instead, here are three resources I recommend which provide information on start using Facebook to your professional advantage:

• I'm on Facebook, Now What (Jason Alba)
• Can You Get A Job By Advertising on Facebook? (Lindsey Pollak)
• Facebook Strategies - The Power of Facebook Groups (Phil Rosenberg)

These tips represent only a fraction of Facebook's capability, but are a good jumping off point in terms of exploring the possibilities. To your success!