One Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Posted: November 15, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Job Search | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

In this digital world in which we live, this adage has never been more true. This phrase was first written in 1918 about a pictorial magazine about World War I. At that time, no one could have conceived the number of images we are bombarded with every day. Managing your image is important for the job seeker. The right image, or the wrong one, can tell a recruiter all that s/he wants to know.

There are places you where you absolutely must have a picture of you, and some places where you probably shouldn’t. Here are three suggestions:

Resume – NO – Do not put your photograph on your resume unless you are applying to be a model, a performer, or some other position where you will be hired based on your looks. I like to talk about enablers and limiters on your resume, and photos are almost always limiters. Rarely will all but the most stunning photo improve your chance of getting an interview, and often a poor quality photo can land your resume on the reject pile.

LinkedIn – YES – you should have a good quality professional looking photo on your LinkedIn profile. A lack of a photo suggests (at least to me) that you don’t follow through on things. It appears that you set up a LinkedIn profile because someone (like me) told me you needed one, but you didn’t finish the process. Keep in mind, LinkedIn is a professional networking site. It is not Facebook. Your LinkedIn photo should be a head and shoulders picture in professional attire with a pleasant smile. You want to covey professionalism. Put those other photos on Facebook.

Facebook – YES and NO – If you are going to have a Facebook account, you need to make a decision; is it public or private? If you leave your site unrestricted, you need to realize that many companies will look for you on Facebook to learn more about you. Pictures of you in “unprofessional” situations, drinking, smoking, or what-have-you, might be fine for your friends, but is this how you want your future boss to see you? Assume anything you post on an unrestricted Facebook page is the same as posting that same image on your resume. I suggest you lock down your account to just friends, or you make sure to keep your page Sunday-School appropriate.

Yes, one picture can be worth 1,000 words. As a job seeker, make sure those 1,000 words say “here’s why you should hire me.”

For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.

Going Social …

Posted: December 7, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Networking | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The title of this post has two meanings.

First – I’m going social. Welcome to my friends and contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn. I’ve connected this blog to my pages on these sites so I can reach more people. Hopefully I can help you with your career transitions. Feel free to like or share or what-have-you. Maybe someday I’ll have to learn to tweet (or not).  Please follow along at www.im-fired.com.

Second – You need to go social too. When I wrote the first draft of I’m Fired?!? my concept was to write a book and include a CD-Rom with job search aids and support materials. At that time AOL was just starting and the only way to access the internet was through a dial-up connection.  Some of you reading this post probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Those of you doing the math are realizing (the truth) that it’s taken almost 15 years to get this book from draft to done (and we’re not quite there yet).

Anyway – social media was nowhere on the horizon. Now there is LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram and sites I’ve never heard of. The world is more connected than ever before.

So the question is, should you talk about being unemployed on social media? The answer is an emphatic yes!

Networking is about telling your story to anyone and everyone. I hear people say, “I don’t need to tell so-and-so because they won’t know anyone who is going to hire me.”  That is completely wrong. If your goal of networking is that everyone you meet will get you a job offer, then you will be severely disappointed. Networking is about connecting and building relationships. Everyone you meet knows someone that you don’t. If they introduce you then now you know one more person. As you build that network it’s like a spider building a web and eventually a nice tasty job opening will get caught in that web.

Putting your story on social media can allow you to reach more people faster than any other method. On the dark side, putting your mistakes, or your sloppy resume or your bad attitude on social media can blow a hole in your network just as fast. If one day you post on Facebook about your search and this great person that you met, and then the next day you whine about not getting an interview at some company, then you’ve undone the good work you did the day before.

Use social media, keep it professional and upbeat, encourage other job seekers, and avoid photos of you holding a red cup J. Build a network that is strong, and electrified.