CMS Career Blog

Alicia Keys is hiring! http://careeradvice4u.com/web-20-passing-fad/

One of the things I hear the most from job seekers is how difficult it is to quantify results form their past work experience. Everyone agrees that doing so is helpful, if not critical, to the job search. However, most find it difficult to show a measurement for something they have done in the past. They didn’t keep track of the numbers, or they cant remember them now, or they “were just doing their job” and don’t really know what measurable impact their impact had on the end result. Or, and this is really most often the case, they are confused and scared as to how to do this important work.

If you are one of the people who has had trouble quantifying results, then I’d like to invite you to join me in this week’s challenge (continue reading…)

“How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams?”

That’s a direct quote from George Clooney in the movie Up In The Air. My wife and I saw it yesterday, and it really made an impact on me.  One, because this is some of the work I have been doing for the last 16 months - not the firing part, but the part about helping people move past the job loss on to a new opportunity.  Two, because it deals with an issue that more that 20% of us have had to face in the last 12-18 months — losing a job and its affect on our career, family, psyche and life.

I won’t spoil the movie for you. You should really go see it.

Now read this next part carefully, because if you don’t you may think I’m saying that working isn’t important. (continue reading . . . )

The week before Christmas we held a workshop on developing your Elevator Pitch to promote your personal brand.  We taped participants before and after the workshop, and here are a couple of those examples. (continue reading. . . )

Your network let you down?  Really?

If you feel like your network has let you down, then you really don’t understand what a network is, how to develop it, or how to use it to help you in the job search.  Listen up, kids.  There WILL BE a test at the end of this post, and if you fail you will add several months (not weeks . . . MONTHS) to your job search.

What you must understand first and foremost is that networking is NOT about you. Ever.  It’s about. . . (continue reading)

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 (affiliate link), Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki (affiliate link), and Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (affiliate link). 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. (continue reading . . . )

When I asked for input on what to write about in this blog I received the following request from Doug:

“I would be interested in hearing about effective uses of time when you are looking for work.  How much time should be spent on internet search engines, linkedin, attending network marketing meetings, having one-on-one network meetings, time spend with an accountability partner, exercising, prayer/meditation, time spent not working on the job search (I feel guilty doing this), volunteering, or other valuable uses of time.  Alternately, what are poor uses of time.  As I go through this process, I have been advised to do everything and say a yes to everything.”

This is a GREAT question Doug, I’m glad you asked it. Let me take a shot at answering it. . . (read more. . . )

When I asked for input on what to write about in this blog I received the following request from Doug:

“I would be interested in hearing about effective uses of time when you are looking for work.  How much time should be spent on internet search engines, linkedin, attending network marketing meetings, having one-on-one network meetings, time spend with an accountability partner, exercising, prayer/meditation, time spent not working on the job search (I feel guilty doing this), volunteering, or other valuable uses of time.  Alternately, what are poor uses of time.  As I go through this process, I have been advised to do everything and say a yes to everything.”

This is a GREAT question Doug, I’m glad you asked it. Let me take a shot at answering it. . . (continue reading. . . )

In the spirit of Late Night with David Letterman, here is my Top 10 List for Job Seekers.

10) Get out of the house. Hey, you can’t effectively conduct a job search from your home office.  Get away from the computer and go talk to somebody. Now! (Continue reading . . . )

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: (read more. . . )