7 Brilliant Ways to Use Your Contacts to Get a Job

7 Brilliant Ways to Use Your Contacts to Get a Job Do you ever feel like you have lots of contact names from networking, your current job, and life in general, but you don’t know how to leverage them? It can be difficult to think of ways to approach them, or even what you want to approach them for. The chief thing for us to remember is that a network is important not because of what we can ‘get’ from our contacts, but because of who, and what, they can introduce us to. Leveraging contacts is about adopting the right attitude to your network. Here’s a breakdown of what this means in practice. 1) Get to know your contacts It’s infinitely easier-and fairer-to ask your contacts for help if you actually know them well. Many of us believe networking is about collecting a mass of contacts. In truth, this is not a useful attitude to have when it comes to building a beneficial network. What’s really valuable is how well connected we are to our contacts. The tighter, and more personal, the bond between you and each contact, the more valuable it is. Instead of collecting ever more business cards, be interested in those people you already know. Who are they? What are they interested in, what’s their educational history, their quirks? Do you know their family, where they live? It is only by being curious about the detail of people’s lives that you can begin to have a useful, and valuable, connection. Can you pick up the phone at any time, and ask one of your contacts almost anything, and get some sort of positive response? If not, you do not have a close enough relationship with them, and they are not a useful contact. They are merely someone else in your database. 2) Treat contacts with respect If we treat our contacts like scalps, or notches on the bed post, our message to them is that we do not value them highly. Instead, we should treat our contacts as potential allies. Nurture them and aid them. Really get to know what they want, not just tell them what we want. Ideally, your message to your contacts is that you are there to support and help them. Once you are treating them this way, they will respond in kind. 3) Give as well as take Getting to know what your contacts want is a big part of treating them right and so is actually making the effort to help them with what they want. Once they’ve told you what they’re looking for, really think about how you can help. Do you know anyone who would be beneficial to this person? Could you use your own skills and expertise in some way, be it by doing something for your contact, or showing them how to do something? Once you’ve done a contact a favour that’s meaningful to their ambitions, they won’t forget it. Once you’ve done them many such favours, they’ll actively want to help you out too. If someone’s bought you hundreds of gifts, you kind of start thinking that you’d like to buy them a gift in return. 4) Work out what you want Before approaching a contact, get clear on what it is you want from them. What type of job are you seeking? What sort of boss are you looking for? Once you’re clear on these things, approach the contact you think is most likely to be able to help you based on your preferences. It’ll be much easier to communicate to them what you want, once you know what you want.  You may well be asking, “And how exactly do I work out what I want?” You probably want to do something that you’re good at and that you enjoy. So make a list of your strengths and your passions and work out from there which careers, which work environments, which organizations match up to those. You’ll also need to consider constraining factors, such as financial requirements, childcare restrictions, travel issues, or whatever applies to your own life. 5) Communicate clearly It’s not only important to be clear about what you’re asking your contacts for, but also to communicate it clearly. Have you ever been approached by someone in your network who was not really sure what they were asking you for, but instead just rambled on about vague ideas and plans they had? Frustrating, isn’t it? Make sure that you are clear and concise in your conversation with your contacts and give them a direct description of what you’re looking for. 6) Think about what to ask for This is all very well, but what exactly are you asking them for? A job? An introduction? Opinions? Ask your contacts for whatever you want, just make sure you’re asking the right contacts. If you want to ask a contact if they know of any jobs going, be sure to ask a contact who has their own contacts within the specific industry or organizations you’re interested in. If you’re asking them for an introduction, then they obviously have to know someone who’ll it be worth you being introduced to. If you’re asking a contact for their opinion, then they should be knowledgeable on what you’re asking about. 7) Don’t rule anyone out Even though it’s important to choose suitable contacts, you shouldn’t necessarily exclude anyone just because you don’t think they’ll be able to help you. This mainly applies to those contacts you don’t know so well yet. If you know that a certain contact is connected to the industry you’re interested in, then obviously it’s better to talk to them than to a contact that isn’t connected to that industry at all. But what if you don’t know which industries a particular contact is involved with? If you get to know that contact better, they may surprise you with what they can suggest to help you out, once they know you well. Based on their newfound understanding of you, they may know exactly the person you should speak to in order to open up options suitable to you, your personality and your circumstances. To get to a position where you can effectively use your contacts to find a job, you have to work really hard to get to know them. It’s about connecting with your network, not growing it obsessively. Related: 5 Great Ways To Use Social Networks for Your Job Search. Nisa Chitakasem is the founder of Position Ignition  â€" a careers company dedicated to taking you to the next step in your career.  For free advice, guidance and information on careers follow Position Ignition @PosIgnition.  Image: Shutterstock.

Use Sales Strategies to Negotiate A Job Offer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Use Sales Strategies to Negotiate A Job Offer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Interviewing for a job can be a nerve-wracking experience. Many are in a position of disliking their current position so much they believe they would take almost anything when a new offer comes along. But as we all know, that is a poor solution. Waiting for the better match is a wiser path to take. And it is this waiting for the right position and for the right offer to come your way that will put you on edge. What is one to do? Review the facts from your perspective first and then that of the company Did you concentrate your interviewing effort on the type of company that interests you most? Was a connection with the people felt? Do you believe the job will be good for your career? Will you look forward to getting up in the morning to go to work? Their Perspective: What are the advantages your expertise brings to the company? What were their pain points conveyed during the interview(s)? Do you have new ideas to offer to improve systems? What will the company find beneficial by hiring you? While you are waiting for an offer to arrive in the mail, give consideration to the above questions. When you are certain you are moving to a better situation, it is time to make a long list of everything important you will bring to the company. Mentally replay the previous conversations in order to fit both perspectives (theirs and yours) together as if it were a puzzle. Reviewing your list should boost your confidence. Be easily able to explain why the answers on your list are an advantage for the company by matching both perspectives. Receipt of the offer becomes your last opportunity to negotiate an improved offer. Understanding the company’s needs, wants, and deep down desires and the ability to express the benefits you bring will play well into asking for a better package. The company spent a lot of time and money deciding upon you, the chosen candidate. They do not want to go through this enormous effort again. Rather than declaring, “Take it or leave it”, the company will recognize your talent and most often will be willing to negotiate. Your ask should be: Within reason Based upon previous conversations begun by the Hiring Manager Expressed well As long as your ask follows these guidelines, you should be able to negotiate well. By having created your lists ahead of time and becoming very familiar with both perspectives, you increase the odds for getting what you desire. When the offer does arrive, read it several times and take your time before responding. Give due consideration to the positives and negatives. See if anything is missing and contemplate what new ideas may be suggested. Rather than beginning a new job with the appearance of being hungry and at the mercy of the company, you will begin your new employment from a place of strength. Your new employer will take you more seriously. And your personal brand just might become “thoughtful”. Having all the facts in place will put you in a stronger position to negotiate well and will lead you to the Smooth Sale! Author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.” Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.

Who Asks You for Advice - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Who Asks You for Advice - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Being indispensable is a good threshold test for measuring the success of your personal brand. Being indispensable â€" the right person to answer the question or otherwise direct the action means you are the ONE, the ONE we count on to get it right or make us right or otherwise make the right thing happen. It is a wonderful and terrible thing to be indispensable. It gives you job security, client control, superior relationships with the most important people â€" and those people will take your call (or return your email). Close to invincible For the feelers in our group: indispensable feels close to feeling invincible. It’s a very good feeling. You know you’re overdoing it when you feel like the world can’t rotate without you, which will never be true. Keep in mind that once in a while even Batman must look at the Gotham sky with the beaming klieg lights summoning him and think, why don’t they call Iron Man today? So, make sure you have a DND button or sign or a way to signal that even superheroes need a nap. That should be your worst problem â€" too many things to do with all your talent, know-how and good judgment. So, let’s figure out how your personal brand can feel like we all can’t do without you. Best above all the rest You don’t become indispensable if you cannot carve out what it is you do â€" or how it is you view the world â€" or what subject area you are deeply committed to being an expert in. So make a list of things you do well â€" or want to do. Pick the one that’s most often the thing you do best or can learn to do it at a level above the rest of us. Then, you’ve got to communicate that “thing” and the way you deal with that “thing,” clearly, crisply, compellingly and relentlessly. Or, have other people evangelizing for your personal brand. What does indispensable equate to in business? In business, being seen as indispensible looks like this:   You get referrals, recommendations, testimonials and offers without much effort on your part. You do have to answer your phone, return the email or open the door when opportunity presents itself. But overall being seen as indispensible lowers the overall effort you need for your personal brand promotion, and lets you turbo-charge your mastery over your subject or thought leadership. Striving to be the one and only expert among your circle (or your circle’s circle) stops the roller coaster ride of feast and famine in new business development and juicy projects coming your way. Not that the thrilling highs and stomach dropping lows aren’t unendurable. It’s just that after awhile, knowing you are going to get exactly what you want because you are who you are, makes it easier to have time to go to theme parks with real roller coasters â€" or do anything you really want to do. Even if the thing you want to do is build your empire by doing more, bigger and highly visible work. If right now, you have more talent than you do recognition for it: let’s work on the fundamentals. Indispensability’s step one: Give great advice. Every octosecond on LinkedIn, someone wants to know something. And, in your on-ground life, you’re in casual conversations, much less meetings or presentations, where someone is talking about something that at least brushes up against your expertise, even if they don’t know it. Take people seriously, and give considered, respectful and forwarding thinking advice. Great advice is never a yes or no. It’s your reflection on the question â€" which you might understand as only the tip of the iceberg. For example, make sure to indicate what might be at stake that’s larger than let’s say: should our new logo be red or purple? If you are an identity specialist, you’ll weigh in with the symbolic meaning of color and the fact that while needing to be on trend today, the logo has to have a long life because great brands live long and prosper. Okay, now you. Consider what you know, who needs to know that, and the best way of sharing your deeper than we knew knowledge. Because we all need great advice, and you could become our indispensable resource. Author: Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen

5+ Best Technical Writer Interview Questions Answers - Algrim.co

5+ Best Technical Writer Interview Questions Answers - Algrim.co Becoming a technical writer is one of those jobs in the market today that is fairly obtainable for the recent graduate of those with a journalism degree. As jobs in journalism become harder and harder to get due to the nature of the business and market atmosphere shifting (primarily in 2019 this is taking strong effect), those who are professional writers are looking for something to put their skills to use for. Technical writing is one of those new jobs. Below are the best technical writer interview questions and answers I could research based on the experience of those hiring for this position. What is the role of a technical writer Technical writers are in demand due to the fact that content marketing and content of all kinds are becoming the main source for consumers and customers to interact with a business. And because of that, businesses are looking for ways to inform and educate their customers in clear, technical ways. That would be from programming to manufacturing. There are all sorts of ways technical writers can help take a business's value proposition and help the customer be more empowered to feel well equipped with whatever the business offering may be. Think of it almost as the installation manual that you would receive when you bought a TV. Without that manual, the TV loses some value. If you can’t install it, then you truly don’t have any application for the TV at all. Technical Writer Interview Questions & Answers 1. How do you gain domain expertise of an area you don’t have any knowledge of and then begin to write about it? Research is incredibly important. For the most part, every single area of interest I am writing about, I have to become an expert in. This takes some time but knowing where to find these resources and how to comprehend them quickly has given me an incredible advantage towards saving you time. 2. How do you think about technical writing in general? For the most part, I want to cover every single topic within the main subject matter we are discussing and then some halo subject matters which surround the core subject. This means I am writing something incredibly informative and helpful to the reader and even help them answer questions that they may not have immediately have. I’d rather over-deliver than not. 3. How long do you think technical writing should be? Ideally, the writing should be as long as possible but also pack a synopsis into the writing itself so a reader who decides they don’t want to go through the detailed level of writing can still be informed. This helps to ensure that if there are various skill levels reading the piece that they are choosing which style of informative writing is best suited for them without getting annoyed. 4. How does technical writing help a business? It's a point where a customer feels the value of the business. Use the analogy of an installation guide. You may have purchased a $500 TV for your home but without the installation guide, you’ll never be able to feel the true value of that TV, simply because you won’t be able to turn it on. The writing, the guides, and the information helps the customer. 5. Is there a category of business that technical writing can’t help? I’d say there are absolutely some advanced industries where the writing alone won’t be enough. Take for example the installation of a complex commercial printing machine, like a Heidelberg. That won’t be something that the writing alone will allow the customer to execute. They will still need a specialist. Knowing where those boundaries are is really important. 6. What is AP style writing? It is a journalistic style of grammar and writing which is most common for consumers. Technical writing can absolutely follow this standard if it so chooses. 7. How do you work with multiple writers? Very simply. It begins with outlines and then we decide which topics within those outlines we’d like to cover. And then those topics are divided amongst the team. Ideally, the end result is that every writer has a section they are responsible for so that the entire production can come together quite smoothly. Additional Technical Writer Resources Technical Writer Cover Letter Sample Technical Writer Job Description Related Hiring Resources Technical Writer Resume Example Technical Writer Job Description Sample Technical Writer Cover Letter Sample

Top 10 Ways to Build Your Online Personal Brand with LinkedIn - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Top 10 Ways to Build Your Online Personal Brand with

On the Ledge - Job Search Have You Feeling Down - CareerAlley

On the Ledge - Job Search Have You Feeling Down - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Youre never beaten until you admit it. George S. Patton You are on the ledge, inching forward one tiny step at a time. It took a lot of courage to get up here, now you just need to step off. You know that once you step off there is no turning back, but you hesitate yet again. Its a beautiful day, sunny and no clouds in the sky, a great day to be out here. You finally find the courage to move to the end and you step off. You drop quickly and look up at the brilliant blue sky before you hit. Your journey ends and you plunge into the water, the pool water is not as cold as you thought and, now that you think about it, the diving board is not really that high. If you are serious about your job search you need to take the plunge! Leaning towards the edge you may get a little wet but the fastest way to get a job is to be fully engaged in the process. If youve not started yet, visit the Job Marketing Toolkit page to get the basics on: Resumes Cover Letters Thank You Letters Interviews If you have started the process, how do you get focused? First, you need to have a plan to focus your search, set goals and track your progress. Job Search Checklist This article, from quintcareers.com, provides an excellent guide for developing a plan of attack. The article has 5 parts with quite a few links, but the very first section (Part 1) focuses on planning and preparation with 10 or so points (like understand the process, understand the jobs that interest you, creating your list and more). Job search planning steps, tips and tricks Keppie Careers offers this blog post which has a number of great tips, such as Identify you 3% (I dont want to give this one away so read the post) and Identify companies. There are quite a few more, and all are worth the read. There are additional links at the bottom of the page for related posts. Create a Job Search Plan A short article by Careeronestop.org provides two job hunting truths Job Search takes time and you need goals and a schedule. The blog provides some useful links (like a job hunting schedule, job web sites, finding potential employers and a few more (including resumes and networking). CareerAlley Website Tracking Template This template, created by yours truly, is posted on a shared section of Google Docs. You dont require any special software as this is a Google Docs spreadsheet. Use this to keep track of which sites youve visited, when you visited and any special comments. Once you load the document you will want to click File, Export, select .xls and then save the file to your local directory. Keeping track is an important part of the process. 5 Great Job Hunting Strategies that Will Get You Hired This article, published on Zoomstart.com, provides a number of tips (5 to be exact) on cover letters, resumes and interviews as well as some other advice. Certainly worth a read as you build your Job Search Plan. There are also some key facts at the top of the article (like the infamous 90% of jobs are not advertised). Good luck with your search.

Resume Writing Jobs Pay Well

Resume Writing Jobs Pay WellWhen looking for resume writing jobs pay a lot more than you would think. In fact, many companies do not want to spend money on someone who will just show up in their office and get paid minimum wage.Before you take your first job, write a great cover letter to use. Your cover letter should explain why you are qualified for the job and it needs to be more than just a cold call to the company.You should take the time to improve your writing skills, so you can talk to a real person with proper grammar and spelling. The resume you are using needs to have the resume for the company on it. Do not forget to include your contact information on your resume.If you are doing this for the first time, don't get intimidated. These resumes are written for an individual who wants to work for one company, not to go back to college and start over.Your resume needs to be comprehensive. It includes your education, work experience, any other skills you have, and any skills yo u have gained during your schooling. Most companies prefer that applicants include all of these on their resume.Remember, the first few times are the hardest, but once you get used to it, it gets easier. Just do not hesitate to ask for a better pay rate.The job description can be different for each position. When applying for the job, make sure you have all of the information about the position on your resume. Remember, a good resume is only as good as the job you apply for.Resume writing jobs pay well. If you work hard, work smart, and get the job, you will quickly realize how much of a difference you can make in the company.