Get a personal business card. If you do not have a business card it’s time to get one for both professional and networking reasons. You do not have to wait until you are employed with a company before you have ‘your card’. You simply choose a card, list your name, profession (the one you received your degree for or are in – ie; software engineer, administrative assistant, human resources professional, accountant, etc.). List your contact information – both phone number and email. I have also seen those who have listed specialties or knowledge areas on the backside of the card, which is like a mini-resume and a great way to showcase your value add. However, don’t get too carried away here so that the reader needs to have a magnifying glass to see what’s there. Just list a few ‘top’ talents and/or specialties.

There are many reasonable alternatives for business cards and I have found Vista Print to be one of the most efficient and cost effective methods. Vista Print has loads of choices – but, for professional reasons I suggest you stay on the conservative side with your design selection. Keep in mind the audience you will be handing this card to (i.e.; recruiters, business networking contacts, hiring managers, etc.).

Next time someone says “how can I get in touch with you?” you won’t have to rip off a little piece of paper and start writing down your information (very unprofessional). You simply hand your business card to them and let them know they can contact you anytime. And don’t forget to ask for their card too. Always continue to build your network.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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Research the Company – dig deep. Before you head off to an interview you’ll need to be well prepared to answer the question “What do you know about us?” This is a common question asked of candidates for a number of reasons – the first and most important is to see how well the candidate prepared for the interview. You should be able to rattle off several details about what you know about the company, their products, customer base and who their competitors are. Additionally, you should know from your research who the top management team is and where they came from.

Don’t skip this step and think the employer will answer it for you. If you say something as unprepared as “I’ve seen your Company in the news and it looks like a good place to work”, the interviewer may bother to fill you in on more information, but more than likely it is a courtesy process out of politeness and you will not win over your well prepared competition. A second interview at this point will probably not happen.

So, where can you begin? First, of course, you will want to review the company’s website. Be sure to review the products, management team (also google each member of the management team to get even more info), philosophy, mission and press releases. Then start digging around online via news feeds, blogs, and research sites such as: Edgar Online, Wall Street Research Net, PRN News, CEO Express – for more great links visit our site.

Remember – research will set you apart from the competition…know your stuff.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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Prepare your Professional Pitch. – tell me about yourself is often the first question any employer, manager, recruiter or new acquaintance will ask you. It is just a common question and most of the time we don’t even worry about it. But, then comes the day of your interview and the question arrives and you wing it while clumsily bumping your way around the answer – starting with things like “Um, I’m from Wisconsin…blah, blah, bore”, or worse you say “Well, what would you like to know?” Yikes…your interviewer is thinking “what is this person doing wasting my time”? You’re outta there. Never make the interviewer work to pull information out of you.

Preparing your professional pitch is an important part of your interview, as well as your branding message. Employers want to know who you are and how you will add value to their organization. And they ‘expect’ you to be prepared to answer the ‘tell me about yourself’ question quickly (within 30 seconds) and succinctly, as it relates to ‘what’s in it for them’ if they continue the interview and/or hire you. Your professional pitch is your value proposition in brief. Not a history of your upbringing, hobbies and dreams (save that for a date).

So, just what should you include in your Professional Pitch?

1. Your opening statement – who you are and why you’re there.

2. Next, focus on the context of your work (or course work if new grad) and how it relates to the employer’s needs.

3. After that, point out your strengths as they relate to what you can bring to the employer.

4. Finally, end with a professional connection question.

Creating your pitch and practicing it until it flows easily and naturally is a key to networking and interview success.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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Let’s face it – the entire process of job search can just be monstrously overwhelming, which is why you have got to get a plan together in order to tackle the monster. It is really best to think about job search as ‘your current job’. Holding this perspective is a way that can enable you to make the most effective use of your time. Here are some tips to include in your planning:

• Schedule your week days around the job search process (don’t take too much time between jobs or graduation to relax, a few is ok, but too many may make you reluctant to get back into the swing of things).
• Allot time to prepare your career marketing tools (resume, cover letter, personal card, overall portfolio).
• Schedule networking meetings, business lunches, informational interviews (if you plan on entering a new field) – stay in process and visible in the marketplace.
• Research your marketplace in order to ‘target’ specific companies.
• If you’re not certain of ‘what’ career you want – plan a personal/career assessment; examine your interests, values, strengths and what motivates you. If you haven’t done this in a while this is the place to start.
• Take time to develop your pitch or brand message.
• Prepare for the ‘phone interview’ process that many employers conduct today.
• Take this opportunity to get up to date with the job market and prepare an ‘online’ portfolio – be visible no matter where you are or where you work.
• Stay up to date with what is going on in your industry.
• Update yourself on interview techniques and practice, practice, practice.
• Plan your week out ahead of time – stick to your ‘job’ of finding a job 40 hrs./week.
• Build your network. If you shy away from the word networking – pick up some of the latest books and reframe your thinking. Here are a couple of good ones: Make Your Contacts Count, by Baber and Waymon – and The Connect Effect, by Dulworth.
• Celebrate your forward movement – take a step forward every day, work to your plan and stay connected.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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I’ve heard so many comments from people about the amount of time it takes to post their resumes on each of the top job search engine sites that I was happy to come across Resume Rabbit – you post your resume here once and they then submit to up to 84 other job sites for you (such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, HotJobs, Career Shop, Job.com, etc.). It’s a ‘one stop’ posting site, so if you are someone who wants to use the job boards but finds it too time consuming to get it all done, Resume Rabbit might be right for you. They boast that they will give you exposure to over 1.5 million employers and recruiters. What I found amazing is that they actually have a ‘phone’ number you can call if you have questions…nice, you don’t see that much anymore. (But, do you get a real person? Let me know.)

Of course, I have to add that posting your resume on job search engines should not be the only source you use for job search. Connecting with your network (which is #1), researching and specifically targeting companies you are interested in, as well as utilizing the online services are all ways for you to achieve better success. If you would like a list of job search engines and other useful links check out our career links page. There are loads of career informational links here that can give you help, ideas and information around your job search process.

If you have others you think we should add, let me know the link and we’ll check it out.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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How many of you are out there working right now and every day you wish for a different kind of schedule? One that does not suck the life out of you and your family and/or other parts of your life? A work schedule that allows you to enjoy and give focus to all of the important aspects of your life? I think this is something that we all aspire to at one point or another in our careers. Yet, many of us have no idea how to go about making the change, not to mention finding a job/employer who is open to a more flexible type of schedule.

Although statistics probably show that more women than men are moving towards a flexible work schedule, the statistics in the male population are also on the rise: 74% of men rate having a work schedule that allows them time with their families as very important “and” 44% of fathers are willing to take a ‘pay-cut’ in order to spend more time with their children (according to statistics reported on NeedleStackJobs.com).

In addition, there are those of you who will continue to work, even after retirement, along with those who would like to spend more time volunteering to a cause, yet need to continue working - or want to just have more personal freedom. The list of reasons is long and flexible scheduling is something that has become important to the majority of us and we are in need of more information and support in order to make it happen in our lives.

Good news - NeedleStackJobs.com is just the place for you if you are someone who wants to seek a more flexible work schedule. Just head over there and search their site for employers who are looking for someone with your needs, or go ahead and post your resume. It’s free to join. They also have an extensive ‘links’ page where you can get lots more information.

So, if a flextime schedule is something your looking for, take the steps to begin making it happen in your career. It might not happen immediately, but if you don’t begin to do the research and stay open to who is looking for someone like you in a flexible arrangement - when will it happen? Take the lead.

Posted by Robin - FiredUP Careers because you deserve to “dig what you do”!

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Came across this video from TheLadders.com on YouTube and got a kick out of it. There is a great point made here about how difficult it can be to standout from the pack when you’re searching for a job. TheLadders caters specifically to the $100K plus job market – so if you’re in that league then this might be a site you’d like to check out. If not, check out the video anyway for fun…

Posted by Robin - FiredUP Careers

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Market yourself. This is a hefty one, so I’ll be breaking it down in other blog posts too. First of all, you’ve got to begin thinking of yourself from a marketing perspective. You are looking for a job and marketing yourself to employers. Along the way, you’d like others to help you out too when possible. Do they know you’re looking? Will they have a chance to pass your information on to anyone else?

Begin by making sure that your email address is a professional one. Get rid of any cute email addresses from the past like: im2bad@…, or freakyfred@… and get a professional email address. Use your name, or as close to it as you can. In fact, if you can buy a domain under your name (i.e. joesmith.com) then do so. (To check in to this do a domain search at UpDaddy.com – it’s quick and easy, and also inexpensive to own your online name.) Make sure to use the ‘signature’ part of your email setup page. You can use this setup to list your name, as well as your profession under your name (ie; marketing professional, or software engineer, or sales representative, or banking professional…you get the idea here). Then underneath you can use your LinkedIn link (see tip #5) so that anyone you send an email to can get to your professional link that has your background profile, etc. As you continue to grow your online presence via a video resume, or online portfolio you can also use this link in your email signature.

This is a very powerful way to continue your networking process, grow your presence as a passive job seeker, and be available at a moment’s notice for new opportunities to ‘find’ you.

Take Action:

First, be sure to read tip #5 and get your LinkedIn account set up. Next, set up a professional email address then set up your signature inside your email account. Your email company should have a section and instructions for creating this signature line – it’s easy, so don’t neglect to use this great marketing tool. If you need some help or more information on setting that up here is a link that has oodles of information on creating signatures inside various email accounts.

http://email.about.com/od/signatures/Email_Signatures.htm

So – get started and keep moving forward.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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Every now and then I need to chuck the serious stuff and just pass along a good joke. This one was sent to me from a wonderful friend and I got such a good laugh out of it that I hope you do too - here it is:

Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it . . . Don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat?

Hay and corn. And what are these?

Vegetables.

So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain?

Eat chicken.

Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain…Good!

Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! . Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:

‘Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO HOO, What a Ride!’

AND . . . .

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americ ans.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Cheers and grins - Pass it on… let someone else you know get a good laugh!

Posted by Robin – FiredUP Careers

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Ready to have your work ‘work’ with your life? These days we all seem to be on autopilot when it comes to work. We stop thinking and just keep doing and pretty soon we have no life. There really is a way to manage this better, take control and put the ‘life’ back into your life. Today thousands of people are rearranging their work schedules and turning their lack luster life into a life that works for them and suits their needs? How?? By setting up a flexible and/or telecommuting schedule with their employers. Oh sure… (you might think), but I found this site: WorkOptions.com that actually lends a hand in helping you persuade your current company that you can get the job done ‘and’ do it on a flexible schedule.

Whether you’re afraid to ask, want to plan a strategy or are ready to get started this site has great information for you as well as a full on template/proposal package that you can prepare to present to your employer. So, stop wishing and dreaming about having a flexible work schedule and start taking steps today to make it happen in your life. Remember, you are the manager of your career.

P.S. If you currently have a flex schedule – would love to hear how you got it and manage it. And, if you’ve tried to propose a flex schedule and your company said ‘no way’ – would like to hear about that side too. Let’s help other people out by sharing our information.

Posted by Robin – FiredUP Careers

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