Job Hacking

Do you want to look bad?

Um, that would be NO, right?

Let's talk about the photos we see on social networking sites. Here are the rough categories:

• Picture of you, cropped so as to not include your SO, BF, GF, Wife, Husband, whatever is to your left in the pic
• The 'solo camera phone shot' where in addition to seeing your head, we see your upper arms in a very unnatural position. Looks like it was a last minute, "Hey wouldn't it be great to take a photo in this location" shot.
• Then there's the "I'm so drunk at the bar/party/dance/concert/" shot.
• And the "Here's me at work in my gray cubicle w/paper, monitor and dead printer" in the background" shot
• The camouflage shot: "This is me 5 years ago at a Halloween party but never mind the mask"
• The 'professional headshot' usually for execs to post on the bio pages at their firm they are leading - usually a little stiff.
• A special one for the ladies: "I just changed my hair color to platinum blonde, blood red, muted purple and I'm SO EXCITED!"
• For the guys: Nobody wants to see you in a do-rag, O.K.?

Now, I know this isn't you, but maybe you have a friend...

A couple of quick tips for a photo that's fun and authentic, but not 'professional':

• Start w/a reasonably good camera. Some people can take great shots w/camera phones, and most of them are professional photographers. With a lot of patience. Most digital point and shoots made in the last 2 years are capable of great shots, so start there.
• CLEAN THE LENS. It's like chalking the cue in pool - just make it a habit.
• Only take shots when you have GREAT lighting conditions: 1st or last hour of daylight (assuming no clouds, or intermittent clouds; back-lighting is sorta important, especially for women (back-lighting means the light is coming towards you as the photographer, and your subject is between you and the light); and remember that the odds of a pic coming out well where the camera's flash was used are a bit slim. Another great time is during the day when we have cloud cover as they diffuse the light so it's not harsh. Opens up your shooting hours markedly.
• Set your camera to use the best possible image capture, which usually means the largest file size.
• Fill the viewfinder with the person in question. People way out away from the photographer don't do much for your audience.
• For subjects who have gained a few lbs & they are self-conscious about it: The camera should be a bit higher than the head, and straight-on, and/or you might want to just tilt your head down a bit. This will help hide any chubbiness below the chin (Check Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton or any of the glamor girl shots when they know they are being photographed).
• If it's an option, reduce the F-stop setting the lowest possible on the camera. This will help in two ways: 1) Keeps the focus on the person in the shot (assuming you're focusing on them), and 2) Allows you to up the speed of the shot to reduce shake & movement.

Around Seattle, there are some great outdoor places to take photos, usually on the Western side of the water. For example, the parks up on Queen Anne, or Kirkland beach area along Lake Washington, or along the waterfront of Downtown Seattle (Hello Olympic Sculpture Park!). These locations give you wonderful opportunity to take a shot w/great light because there's nothing occluding your light source as the sun goes down.

Finally, have fun! In this day and age, a photo is almost free except for the time you put into it. So, shoot away. When you get a great shot, post it up!

Different take on linkedin referrals

So, we all know that referrals are important in finding a new job. But how about building a business?

Aside from the general notion that referrals are all that and a bag of chips, it's the creativity hinted at in this video that is so compelling.

Oh, and this referral, "Sasha is a talent so rare, that if he were an animal, National Geographic specials would be made about him."

Referral writing is more of an art than a science!

References by another name

I've written before about the power of references, and why you need them, and even a little bit about what to look for in a reference.

Copyblogger has a great post - How to Power Up Customer Testimonials. You know, references! Lot's of good stuff here for your on-line profile, or your resume.

What does the Internet know about you?

Here's a great story regarding recruiting, and the use of search engines to identify candidates for specific roles over at the NY Times today.

Here's the key paragraph that pertains to recruiting, "According to the report, officials at the White House first developed a method of searching the Internet to glean the political leanings of a candidate and introduced it at a White House seminar called The Thorough Process of Investigation. Justice Department officials then began using the technique to search for key phrases or words in an applicant’s background, like “abortion,” “homosexual,” “Florida recount,” or “guns.”

Here's the issue: Any tool can use a tool for bad purposes. The question is not so much that of technology being bad, but that of people being unpredictable.

For you as a candidate, and we're all candidates sooner or later, does the information on the Internet represent you correctly? How will this information help your career, and how will it harm it? Can you predict what will happen 10 years from now?

An Example Profile

A few years back, I had the opportunity to work w/James Gallagher. He is a fine example of a sales leader here in the Seattle area.

James also happens to have what I consider to be a very nice business profile on LinkedIn. There are a number of notable attributes about his profile, and in particular, he states what he accomplished for each of his employers in clear and certain terms.

Should be fun to see what James accomplishes next!

LinkedIn Contact Settings

I have a buddy, we'll call him Mr. Pink.

Mr. Pink is a very experienced, very talented, and very technical software network type. Has very rare skills.

He was solicited the other day for a role via linkedin. He was a bit taken aback since his contact settings specifically state that he is not interested in career offers. I can guarantee that the recruiter who contacted him will not be the one Mr. Pink uses in the future for having violated his stated contact preference.

As I noted yesterday, everyone is interested in a new role, given the right offer.

Here's what I wonder. What if, instead of a binary state for this setting, linkedin provided a set of elements that one could fill in that would identify what you're looking for in your next role? Wouldn't this be super  helpful to all concerned?

Here's what I'd want to see in the 'my ideal next job' section: Salary, Title, Location, and a short description of what you're doing.

What if you simply stated this in your Summary section on linkedin?

Thoughts on writing a profile

This post should probably have a really catchy, crisp headline like:

"How to write a knock-out LinkedIn profile in three easy steps!"

-or-

"Do you have a weak LinkedIn profile?"

-or-

"Does your mom hate your LinkedIn profile?"

But, the truth of the matter is that writing on-line profiles is an evolving form. It's the Wild West right now, and it's fun!

That said, there are two places I know of that have good advice on writing a profile. I would not say they are prescriptive, so I encourage you read, contemplate and iterate!

The first is Guy Kawasaki's post on LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover. I can't tell you the number of times I've recommended this to people I work with! The second is over at CopyBlogger and came out just a few days ago, and it's entitled How to Rock Your Readers Like a Hurricane.

The CopyBlogger posting is not written specifically about writing an on-line profile, but it might as well be. Isn't the purpose of a profile to advertise in one form or another? One thing that I'd add to his thinking to make it more relevant to writing a profile is to iterate. What I mean by this is to use this process:

1. Write a first draft of your profile in your favorite word-processing software. Save it. Close it.
2. Come back to it one day later. Read it, then edit. Save it. Close it.
3. Come back to it the third day. Read it. Make your final edits. Save it.
4. Copy it over to your social-networking profile.

Having a well-written on-line profile makes a world of different to the reader. And, it might just make a huge difference in your career!

What's the profile of your on-line profile? (Part 4)

Originally, I had envisioned that there would be 3 articles in this series, but today, Kevin Merritt, over at blist had a great post on Recommendation, Reputation and Opinion, and I could not resist adding a fourth post to this list.

Where this applies to your on-line profile is when you either make or accept a recommendation on LinkedIn or other social-networking sites.

One thing I like about Kevin's post is that the importance of detail regarding a personal brand is highly emphasized. Second, vague references degrade a personal brand. Third, the 'trust' component of your brand is always under construction.

As this relates to recommendations on your profile, think about the following:

• What is the message your reader gets when they read 10+ vague recommendations about you?
• What is being said when you have 'clumps', by date, of recommendations? (You solicited them at the time you left a company...).
• Are all recommendations the same, or is their greater weight to unsolicited recommendations? Can you tell the difference between the two when you read them? (If you can't, know that many recruiters can.)
• When someone reads recommendations you wrote, are they vague, or are they specific?  What does that say about you?
  
• Most important thing about a recommendation: Does it say 'I'd buy them again?'. I guarantee that a hiring manager's (honest) word that they'd hire someone again should be considered high praise.

Finally, know that nobody in this world gets great reviews from everyone. In the course of a career, there are bumps, there are people you will not get along with, and if you're doing things right, you're going to fail (or so says Tom Peters over and over, and here's a quote he uses from Churchill, "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm").

I sense a future post...

What's the profile of your on-line profile? (Part 3)

Details matter.

One of the things that makes social networking sites powerful is the total number of people in them. And, with some of them, there are getting to be enough people on them that a vaguely written profile is a sign of almost nothing.

To help people find you, think about adding words to your profiles that help those searching for people like you to find you. For the technology-focused gang, this could include terms like: C, C++, Java, Struts, Ruby, Linux, Redhat, Cobol (yikes!), Smalltalk, .NET, SQL, Oracle, etc. More importantly, it should also include larger system technologies you've worked with, and which you want to continue working on in the future: CMS, CRM, ERP, etc.

For those of you saying to yourselves, "Well yeah, I don't put those items in there so the recruiters won't find me and will stop bugging me", I have news for you. If a recruiter can look at your profile and know what you are, exactly, they (most likely) won't bug you with a job that's not a match for you. Why is this? Because recruiters, like everyone else, don't want to waste their time on candidates or contacts who don't look like a match. Additionally, it's time, gang, to realize that Search Engine Optimization isn't just for business websites - it applies to your on-line profiles, too!

Remember, it's in the details.

What's the profile of your on-line profile? (Part 2)

What's the title of your on-line profiles?

Do this: Go through all your 1st-order connections on your two favorite social networking sites, and look at how they describe themselves, by their title. Now, think about this from the perspective of a CEO, CTO, VP of Development trying to find a few good people for their hot little start-up. What's compelling to them? What makes them want to click on the title to see more about the person in question? A line that starts a story about your career!

What is compelling:

• Actual job titles: Director of Development; CTO at PandaFish Networks; Development Lead, Network Software, iKangaroo.
• MacGenius - I just love this job title, and it catches my eye every time! It doesn't hurt that anyone I've ever spoken to with this title really had their technical act together. Great Job Brand!

What is not compelling (especially after you've read through 500 or so profiles):

• Consultant
• Executive Consultant
• Experienced Technical Leader
• Experienced Executive
• Internet Technologist
• Thought Leader

Here's the thing on these types of titles: They scream vagueness. Vagueness is the death of the story, and if it's at the very beginning, you turn your audience away before they get to see the true you. You do want them to see the true you, don't you?

What I haven't seen yet is a really engaging title for someone who is currently out of work and looking that doesn't' happen to be their last job title. It's gotta be something that catches a recruiter's or hiring manager's eye that doesn't scream desperate.

If anyone has thoughts on this, I'd sure like to see them!