When you go through a grocery line today the bagger asks you how you want your items packed. “Paper or plastic?”  Many stores do not even offer us an option. They hand us our items bagged in plastic. There was a time when all groceries were packed into paper bags. Plastic bags were uncommon but not anymore. Today plastic bags are the norm.

Last week I stated that traditional jobs were going away. I recommended that it was time to change your career strategy and stop looking for jobs and start looking for work. The insight I want to share with you this week is that work used to be packed in paper bags but today it is being packed into plastic bags. There is work to be found but more and more companies are offering it in unconventional ways.

We are used to looking for work packed into job positions with clear cut duties. The jobs were offered in a paper bag called full-time, or permanent work. Today many employers are packaging work into plastic bags called projects, temporary work or contract work.

What is happening?  Companies are finding that they have to be flexible and nimble in order to compete in today’s market. They need to enlarge their workforce on short notice in order to produce a product or service. Once they have achieved their objectives they need to reduce their workforce rather than pay out wages to idle employees.

Think about the difference between paper bags and plastic bags.  A big paper grocery sack could hold a lot of groceries. You could pack many items neatly into one bag. The bags had a rigid shape and fairly predictable volume of room. Traditional jobs were like paper bags, sturdy and dependable.

But today employers are packing much of their work into plastic bags. Work today is much more flexible, odd shaped and comes in smaller units. Plastic bags are a better container for holding or assigning work.

Be careful that you do not overlook, ignore, or turn down work because it is being offering in “plastic” as contract work, temporary work or as a consulting assignment and not offered as “paper,” a full-time job. Plastic not paper is the new norm for work today.

So, which is it for you?  Paper or plastic?

I got a Borders gift card for Christmas and wanted to spend it as fast as I could, so last Monday I went to see what was out there. Armed with Mashable’s list of “10 Must-Read eBooks For Social Media Lovers” (http://mashable.com/2009/12/21/must-read-ebooks/), I picked up three that looked especially promising for my purposes — Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk , Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki, and Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trustby Chris Brogan and Julien Smith . I vowed to give 20 minutes to each book, at the end of which time I would make a decision and cash-out. I’ll spare you the suspense. . . I chose Brogan and Smith.

I’ll explain why in a minute, but first a brief sidebar. As I started the process I sent a tweet asking my followers for their recommendation. Interestingly enough, @GuyKawasaki (or someone tweeting for him) shot back a reply, “all three!” As I said, I chose Brogan and Smith, so “sorry Guy” — but I have good reason, and the fact that you responded to my tweet puts you on top of the list for when I spend the Barnes and Noble card I got!

I am a Career Coach, Small Business Coach, and professional speaker. When I look for something to read I usually try to find something that will give me double mileage for my time, because, like you, I’m busy! I am currently doing a lot of work helping job seekers and small businesses integrate social media into their marketing strategy. My specialty is helping old people like me (I’ll be 50 this year) understand the value of Social Media basics like Twitter and Facebook. You see, my generation grew up without all of this fancy technology. My family had a black and white tv until I was in High School – ONE TV! There were 4 channels and we had to fight to watch our favorite shows. (Luckily, my favorite was everyone else’s favorite as well. Let’s just say we never missed a “Gilligan’s Island” re-run.)

Anyway, my generation wasn’t raised with computers. We didn’t have cell phones. My generation is skeptical, but we know that we need to learn how and why to use Social Media, if for no other reason than to keep up with our kids! Much of what I do in this space is to help my generation understand the strategic value and opportunities involved in Social Media for business and finding job opportunities. That’s why I chose Brogan and Smith. I’ve devoured Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies“ by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. I’ve drunk from the cup of professional bloggers such as Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, and Yaro Starak — I’m even a member of the “Teaching Sells” community. I have accounts at Digg.com, Technorati, and Delicious (although, admittedly. I don’t use them enough). I attend our local Wordcamp, Beer and Blog, and an ocassional SEMPdx event. I’m good friends with Joshua Waldman (affiliate link), Eric Mann (my publisher) and Pete Wright (my personal videographer) — three guys I consider to be SoMe Gurus. I’m pretty hooked on social media, but to the rest of my generation I’m a bit of an enigma. Most of us “old folks”*** are skeptical of these newfangled contraptions! I have heard on many occasions a statement that was recently made by my friend Elaine.  She said, “I don’t want everyone knowing my business.”

Well I have news for you Elaine, everyone already knows your business! Your life is an open book for all to see, all they need to do is Google your name and they can find your picture, your phone number, your home address, even the fact that you remodeled your basement to the tune of $7,500 in 2008 and took out a permit that cost you $75.00.

“Everyone already knows your business, Elaine.”

That’s the point I’m trying to make in this post. Part of my current mission is to help people raised on rotary phones and Gilligan’s Island re-runs learn the value of using social media to grow their business or find their perfect career position or simply to enhance their life. I picked up the three books mentioned above and chose the one I felt will best help me with that mission.  Vaynerchuk’s book is a great option for helping people find and live their passion.  I intend to use it in my coaching practice with job seekers, however, it didn’t quit hit the spot with my need to help my generation understand and use social media.  Kawasaki’s book (IMHO) felt like it is more aimed at the corporate enterprise than the individual. It’s got some gems, but is a little more corporate than I needed this time.  I will buy those books later, for a different purpose, just not now.  Right now, I need something that will give me the philosophical framework and language tools I need to help my generation embrace Web 2.0 and social media.  Brogan and Smith’s book does exactly that.  I think what really sold me was the little section titled: A Final Lesson: Don’t Be “That Guy” (p. 110 & following). Here’s the specific quote:

“A trust agent’s job is . . to make people feel comfortable, all the way, building deep relationships before ever asking something of others.  You should be there for THEM.”

Yep.  That’s what I need.  My generation is the generation of love, peace (and drugs).  We can understand a social media philosophy that encourages us to “be there for them.” This book is just what I need right now.

Thanks @Chrisbrogan and @julien. And sorry @guykawasaki.  Maybe next time. . .

*** [A old fella was telling his neighbor, 'I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect.'   'Really,' answered the neighbor. 'What kind is it?'   ' Twelve thirty.']

Related Posts:

• The ABCs of Career Management
• A Day In The Life Of A Successful Job Seeker
• How To COnduct An Informational Interview

You will only have about 8 seconds to get the attention of the person reading your resume.  That’s nearly impossible, UNLESS you have a clear and concise Professional Summary Statement.  Here are some tips for writing that concise Professional Summary:

1. You Professional Summary needs to be built around your own personal brand.  What do people think about when they hear your name?  What do you WANT them to think?  Tom Peters has written the classic article on ‘Brand You’ — and you can find it at Fast Company (here).
2. Keep it short — 10-15 words is best.  At MOST it should be only 2 sentences.  You want the reader to know what you can do for them — without putting you in a box. Your goal for the Professional Summary is to get them to read the rest of the resume. Period.
3. Don’t put yourself in a box — don’t use a title unless you are applying for a specific job.  Think about what you do for a company.  What kind of ROI (Return on Investment) will their organization get from hiring you?  If you say, “Accountant” they will put you in the “Accountant” box in their mind.  If you say “Save a company money by organizing key financial data” they will actually want to read on.
4. Get them to read further and make EVERYTHING on the rest of the resume point to your Professional Summary.  If you have done things in your past that don’t relate to your summary, you probably want to leave them off.  The resume should be a FOCUSED document.
5. Remember that the point of the Resume is to get an interview.  The Professional Summary should get them to read the resume, so that they will want to interview you.

With only 8 seconds to grab the attention of your potential employer, you better have a clear Professional Summary.  A good Summary will help them see that you are a person they want to learn more about. . . and ultimately that’s what it takes to get the job!

Need more?  If you want some samples of professional resume summary’s please shoot me an email – info@orcms.com

Resume Advice Related Posts

• How Effective Is Your Resume?
• 3 Different Types of Resumes You Need To Know About
• Why a GREAT Resume is Not as Important as a DECENT Network
• Resume Writing Tips

I’m going to tell you something that will piss you off.  If you have been spending more than 30 minutes a day searching the Internet job boards, you have been wasting your time.  I know the drill. This evening your wife/husband/mother/etc is going to ask you how many jobs you applied for. You feel that if you haven’t spent time online, and you haven’t actually submitted any applications, then you haven’t applied for any jobs.  You are WRONG! If you don’t believe me, just c0unt the number of responses you got from all those job applications you submitted last week online.

So if applying online doesn’t work, what does?

Networking really does work. The reality is that less than 10% of jobs are ever listed. Anywhere.  Especially online. More than 45% of all jobs are filled by networking.  Some say the actual number is more like 80%. One of the best tools for networking is the informational interview.  Here are some tips for conducting an informational interview.

1. Don’t ask for a job. When you contact someone for an informational interview, you MUST NOT ASK FOR A JOB.  You are looking for opportunities and information.  You want to know what it is like to work at the other person’s company or industry.  You want to know what it’s like to do their job on a day-to-day basis. You want to know what needs they have that you or your network can help them with.
2. Don’t bring your resume to an informational interview. EVER.  Rule number 1 is to not ask for a job.  Bringing a resume to an informational interview tells the person with whom you are meeting tat you have lied to them.  How do you think that will go over?  Will they remember you when a job opening comes along? Will they pass your name along to their company?
3. Find out what you can do for the other person. Networking through informational interviews is about finding opportunities.  You want to ask a bunch of questions to find out what makes the other person tick? What keeps them up at night? What do they love about their job? Who do you know that can help them?
4. Ask “Who do you know that I should talk to for more information about this topic?” In sales this is called a “lead.” When possible ask for an introduction. In sales this is called a “warm lead.”
5. Ask them how they want to stay connected with you. You are not asking for a job now, but you want to get permission to come back to them later when you ARE looking for a job.  Don’t forget to ask them to connect on LinkedIn.
6. Send a thank you note. Do it that night BEFORE you go to bed!

Job Interviews / Interviewing Related Posts

• Want to Ace the Behavioral Interview?
• The Art of Interviewing to Land Your Perfect Job
• Interviewing Tips – a Video Montage
• 101 Job Interview Questions
• How to Nail The Job Interview

This week I have been writing about personal branding.  Today I want to share some links of folks who have both influenced my knowledge of the topic, AND who really get it.  Enjoy.

Tom Peters, of course, is the grandfather of the term “personal brand.”  He wrote a seminal article on the topic more than 12 years ago.  I reference it in another post . . . You might also want to check out another article on his blog that addresses the word “brand” and it’s many meanings.

Phil Rosenberg has some great content on his blog about “Online Reputation Management” — including a helpful strategic pattern to follow (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/03/online-reputation-management.html)

A blog writer named “Skellie” has a good section on building your personal brand.  Her writing is aimed at bloggers, but it’s very useful information for job seekers and anyone else who is concerned with their personal brand. Check out the foundational article entitled “How to Start (or Start Over) Building Your Personal Brand“. I particularly like her statement, “You don’t need to be big, to be big.” She makes a strong point here for consistency and transparency (although she doesn’t call it that).

Ron Desi writes a blog on “Leadership. Social Media. And Other Stuff I Like.”  He’s written a couple of posts on personal branding lately that I recommend.  He’s right on with his insights.  I don’t know Ron, but the next time I’m out in Maryland I think I’ll look him up!

Dan Schwawbel writes the Personal Branding Blog.  He usually has some good stuff there about building your brand.  He even has guests write posts that give a variety of insights on building your personal brand.  He tends to focus on younger folks (i.e. Gen Y), but those of us with gray hair can learn some good things from what these folks are saying.  Dan also wrote a book entitled “Me 2.0″, but I must say that it does not live up to the standard he has set with his blog.  There are some great insights in the book, but it’s so poorly written that it’s pretty much unreadable in my opinion (sorry Dan, just being honest).  Stick with his blog and you can’t go wrong.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 20. Tomorrow’s post: “Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Personal Brand”

By now you understand that finding the perfect job requires more than simply writing a resume and posting it online. In fact, if you are going to take the “apply-on-line” approach you should spend NO MORE than 2 hours per week at it. Less than 5% of jobs are ever posted online, so if you are going to find your next job fast you need to spend your time elsewhere. The successful and savvy job seeker will develop a compelling personal brand and spend 75% of their time (or more) promoting it. Here are 7 key ways to promote your personal brand.

1) BUY PRINTED BUSINESS CARDS. I am consistently shocked by the number of job seekers who have absolutely NO way of letting other people know how to contact them other than by shoving a resume in their face. And no, the one’s yo print at home on your own computer are NOT good enough! Business cards are inexpensive. Sometimes you can even get free business cards from places like Prints Made Easy or free shipping from stores like Office Max. As for what to put on your card? I recommend the minimalist approach. Put your name, email address, phone, and LinkedIn profile address. You don’t need a title or a cute picture. Get a non-glossy finish and leave the back empty so people can jot down notes about you.

2) DEVELOP A CONCISE ELEVATOR PITCH. Give just enough information to make people want to ask you to tell them more. Don’t focus on your past, instead focus on your future. Nobody cares that you have 15 years experience in micro-processors. They want to know what you can do for THEM now! Be memorable, but not flippant or “cutesy”. Lastly, rehearse it at least 100 times out loud BEFORE you use it in a group. You want it to be polished, but not too formulaic. For more help on developing your Elevator Pitch, see my post on Jim Nudelman’s 4 Step Process.

3) SHOW UP. You have business cards and a concise elevator pitch, but what good are they if you sit all day at the computer? Plan a strategy to show up in places where your target audience is (i.e. potential employers in key companies within your target industries) or where the people who know them will be.

4) LISTEN AND BUILD TRUST. Networking is NOT about you. It’s about building a relationship. It’s about helping people in your network of friends and colleagues connect for mutual benefit. It’s about finding out what someone else needs and helping them

5) COMPLETE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE. This is one of the most important online tools you will have. A great resource for learning more about how to beef up your LinkeIn account is from Joshua Waldman with Career Enlightenment. Check him out. He’s is THE premiere professional on this topic!

6) FOLLOW UP. Develop a press kit that you can send if asked. Better yet, develop an online press kit using Visual CV or create a blog (I like wordpress). Online you can store video clips, pdf files, work examples and much more.

7) SEND A THANK YOU CARD. Every career coach from here to Katmandu tells their clients to do this. It’s an inexpensive way to keep you on the top of someone’s mind. Personal, hand written cards get past the usual gate keepers and are absolutely read by their intended recipient. If these things are true, then why is it that so few job seekers actually do it?! I must meet with 10-15 people per week. You would think my mailman and I would be on a first name basis after that. The reality is, only about 1 in 100 send a written thank you card. Does it make an impression? You bet it does! True, I don’t have any job openings. However, I do get calls and emails all the time from people who have openings. If I have a handwritten thank you note on my desk from YOU when I get the cal, how much more likely do you think I will be to pass along your name to a prospective Click on this Office Depot link RIGHT NOW and order some Thank You cards. While you are at it, click on this link and buy some stamps online. Keep them at your desk within arms reach, and write thank you notes to EVERYONE you talked to that day – in person or on the phone. DO THIS EVERY NIGHT before you go to bed! Include another business card along with a note as to how much you appreciated their time. Trust me, it will make a HUGE difference!

I hope you can see that these things aren’t difficult. They aren’t hard to remember. They don’t require an advanced degree to implement. They are easy, and there are only 7 of them. You can implement this strategy in just one week by doing just one each day. Have fun, and happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 18. Tomorrow’s post: “The Top 3 Mistakes Job Seekers Make On LinkedIn” (A guest post written by Joshua Waldman)

If you are going to build a house you will want to have a blueprint.  Otherwise how would you know if you were supposed to install a window or a door? How would you keep the roof from falling through the floor without the proper placement of the pillars?

If you are going to develop your personal brand you will want to have a strategy — a blueprint for building your personal brand.  Here are the four pillars of that blueprint.

1) Know Your Product. When marketers go about designing brand identity they begin by studying the major products in the line(s).  Wht is it? What does it do?  How does it work?  What are the feature?  What benefits does it provide to the customers? In this case the product is YOU.  What do you have to offer your current or next employer?  What are you capable of doing for them?  Most important, what are you WILLING to do?  Get as clear about this as you can.  Be specific about what you want and are able to do.  Write it down. Study it.  Create a matrix.  When building a personal brand, you must begin with product knowledge.

2) Know Your Perfect Client. The next pillar is the ability to identify with great specificity who your perfect client is.  Who is going to “buy” what you have to offer?  Who’s needs can be fulfilled by the promise offered through your brand?  This will also help you figure out how to position your product to be attractive to your clients and customers.  In this case, your clients/customers is you employer or potential employer.  Figure out what s/he needs and make your value proposition look attractive to them. Marketers conduct market research in order to be able to clearly define every minute detail of their customers.  In the job search we call that “informational interviews.”

3) Match Client Needs With Your Product Strengths. In traditional marketing, this involves the creation of a variety of marketing channels through which you promote your product’s message. Advertising professionals have found that this is most easily done through the telling of stories which place their product directly in the hands of their perfect customer.  How can you do this as a job seeker? Can you tell a compelling story that will capture the attention of a potential employer and show them how you can meet their needs?  [Hint - resume's are probably the LAST place you should try to accomplish this pillar!]

4) Sell, sell, sell. The final pillar in your personal brand blueprint is the ability to sell what you have.  In order to accomplish this you must be diligent, creative, charming, persuasive, and a skilled negotiator.  A good sales person simply helps the buyer make a decision that s/he wants to make.  What do you need to learn in order to become a good salesperson?  Remember, you only need to make ONE sale every so often, and your product is something that you are intimately familiar and (hopefully) very fond of!

That’s the blueprint for a successful personal brand strategy.  Come back tomorrow when we talk about how to promote your brand.  Happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 19.

I’m trying something a little bit different today.  On Sunday, December 13 I conducted an interview via Skype with Don Elliott of Elliott Design. Don is a marketing profession and in this video he gives advice on how to build your personal brand based upon his expertise in helping companies develop their own brand presence.

One other note, the quality of this video isn’t great, but the content rocks!  If you need to, just close your eyes and listen.  Don’ gives some GREAT gems for developing your personal brand.

If you live in Portland and would like to attend my “Writing An Elevator Pitch” seminar next Monday (December 21), click here to find out how you can attend for just $13.00.  The seminar will be led by national sales trainer, Jim Nudelman. You will remember him, because he is the one who gave us the “4 Step Process for Writing An Elevator Pitch.” It’s one of our most popular posts!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 14.  Tomorrow’s post: “Blog Challenge Day 15 Check Up”

Tiger Woods.

What do you think of when you read or hear that name?  Chances are, what you think today is NOT what you thought about 3 weeks ago.  I hate to pile on, but . . . well, actually I don’t mind piling on if we can all learn something from it.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last two weeks, you know the story about the most famous golfer of all times and how his reputation (i.e. his personal brand) has been tarnished following the exposure of his multiple sexual encounters. I’m not here to pass judgment on Tiger. Afterall, who DIDN’T see something like this coming? What I want to do in this post is to see what we can learn from Tiger about managing (or mismanaging) our personal brand.  Here’s my list:

• You can’t keep secrets, no matter how much money you spend to do so.  Didn’t Tiger learn anything from Bill Clinton or David Letterman? Now ask yourself, “what would ruin MY reputation (or job prospects) if the whole world knew about it?” I’m sure there is something, and the lesson we can learn from Tiger is that it WILL get out. Thus, living an integrated life is always the best approach.
• No matter how much you try, you cannot fully control what is said about you on the Internet. If you have a past employee/employer/lover who wants to disgrace you online they will.  You can’t really do much about that.  What you CAN control is what you put out there about yourself.  Is it true? Are you transparent? Is the message you portray consistent across platforms?
• Be authentic.  My mom always told me that the easiest way to remember what you told someone is to simply tell the truth.  If you lie, you will eventually get caught.  I guess my mom was right. . . this time.

I put out this question on my Facebook page to see what my friends  and colleagues think we can learn from Tiger about personal branding.  They came up with some good stuff and I want to share it with you:

• Be genuine. If your brand is not real it will eventually fall apart. (LG)
• Make sure your brand is something you are actually willing to live. Authenticity is key. (CM)
• Everything you do becomes a part of your brand, not just the part that made your brand popular. Woods is famous because of his golfing, not because of his sex life. Unfortunately, now that he’s become a recognized international brand people have lost sight of that and consider his affair(s) to be just as important to his brand as his skill on the green. (EM)
• Woods is a reminder of how much WE seem to enjoy the cults of personality WE create, along with their human weaknesses. Nobody pays any attention to Joe Doaks’ philandering, until WE brand him a celebrity.
• Woods is in a hell of his own making, but WE are feasting on his suffering. (LW)
• Regarding Tiger Woods….After the ecstasy…..the laundry. (ME)
• There are many things that can be learned. What can be learned about branding is you are in trouble when start to believe your own PR. (RC)

Great stuff! Now, what do YOU think? Please share your comments so we can all learn together, and happy hunting.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 13.  Tomorrow’s post: “What Is Your Personal Brand?”

The next few posts will focus on developing your own personal brand.  We will address questions such as: “What is a personal brand?” “Why do I need to develop my personal brand?” “How do I create a personal brand?” and more. Of course, you don’t really “create” a personal brand.  You already have one.

Don’t believe me?  Google your name followed by your home town. If you have a Facebook page or LinkedIn profile your name probably comes up on the fist page.  Perhaps you are listed in the phone book.  Maybe you have recently been mentioned in a local news article.  All of these things are part of your personal brand.

Scary? Get over it.  It’s already out there and you can’t do anything about it.  What you CAN do is manage your personal brand so that what people see about you is what you WANT them to see.

Personal branding was popularized by an article by Tom Peters first published in Fast Company Magazine (“A Brand Called You”) over 10 years ago.  He starts out the article by writing: “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

When I read that 10 years ago I implicitly KNEW that he was right but I didn’t understand HOW a person could go about creating their own personal brand.  The only brands I knew of were huge corporations with hefty advertising and marketing budgets.  What could a lone individual do to create their own personal brand?

Then along came the Internet, and social networking, and web 2.0, and Google, and . . .

Blogs, Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn and many other applications entered the scene and made it virtually impossible for anyone to keep from creating a personal brand, whether they wanted to or not.

Here are a few things you can do to manage your personal brand:

1. Be clear about the image you intend to project. If your have more than one message you run the risk of confusing people about what you are all about.
2. Make certain your brand message is consistent across all platforms.  For instance, your resume and LinkedIn profile must be in sync.
3. Back up any broad statements with objective proof.  Show numbers, dates, etc. of what you have done the backs up your claim.
4. Keep it brief.  Can you state your value proposition in 10 words or less?  If not, you run the risk of being forgettable — the death nell of any brand.

Come back tomorrow and we’ll cover some more details about creating and managing your personal brand.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 12.  Tomorrow’s post: “What Tiger Woods Can Teach You About Managing Your Personal Brand”