The Career Salon

If it doesn’t fit…

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Happy New Year!!! Glad to be back in the saddle again. I took a much needed break over the holidays and I’m back! While relaxing and catching up on movies, shows, and documentaries, I watched for the second time, OJ: Made in America. I remember vividly, the actual trial while in high school. One of the most prominent figures of that controversial trial was, Johnnie Cochran. This is not a post to share my specific opinion on the events of the crime, trial, or outcome. I want to specifically focus on the sound bite of Johnnie Cochran.

The most contentious part of the trial, was the famous closing statement of the defense namely, Johnnie. If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit…I remember it like it was yesterday. I want to take that statement out of the vile context of a criminal trial and use it for impact for what I’m about to say. It’s a new year AGAIN and most Americans are still unhappy with their work. How much time must you waste to pursue your passion and do the work that makes you happy and fulfilled?

I want to encourage all of you, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” Johnnie Cochran. Free yourself from the bondage of just collecting a paycheck. All of my posts to this point have been about how you can skillfully maneuver through your career and techniques on how to maximize your potential and achieve success. It doesn’t matter if you have goals or resolutions if you are not complimenting them with hard work and tenacity. If you don’t see yourself growing, becoming an adequate fit for the company culture, maintaining healthy relationships with clients (internal and external), etc. then it’s about time pursue other avenues. I’m all about making things work and being loyal but loyalty doesn’t stand a chance against a company’s bottom line, insatiably, or misguided leadership.

Typically, I’d have a few key takeaways for next steps. In this case, I just want you to be FREE. What are you going to do to create the path to your purpose and not just collect a paycheck?

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Hotline Bling: Getting Companies to Call you Back

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I recently attended a scholarship breakfast for a local school of business in the area.  A top businessman was the keynote speaker and the topic was “Disruptive Leadership.” It was really interesting to hear about leadership, uncertainty and strategies on thinking ahead and preparing for change and industry advancements. To sum up the talk, sometimes to get things done things have to be disrupted. I thought this discussion could definitely apply to job seekers.

As you look for job opportunities there is a measure of uncertainty, because once you express your interest in a company or position, often times you are left wondering what will happen next. If you want the “Hotline to Bling” you need to implement a disruptive leadership approach to job searching. You can’t just sit there and wait! Let’s think outside the box and be unique. As a recruiter, I love when quality and qualified candidates reach out to me via various mediums it show grit and well, disruptive leadership. In a situation where there is a mound of uncertainty, a candidate took the time to find me and express interest, that’s AWESOME! All of the jobs I’ve had in my career have been because of God and the guts to go out and get what I wanted. Here are some things that you probably already know but that stand as reminder of what you need to do for companies to call you back:

  1. Use Social Media
    • There are literally conferences that recruiters go to that teach them how to use social media to find great candidates. Reverse engineer that and initiate engagement with recruiters or hiring managers on social media for your benefit.
  2. Go to Networking Events
    • Networking events have become much more results-oriented than those random career fairs at large conference centers. Let Google be your friend and find out what’s going on in your city to network with companies, in person.
  3. Pick up the phone!
    • Some online job descriptions say ‘no calls please’ but those that don’t are fair game. Pick up the phone and call the recruiter or hiring manager (don’t stalk them and call repeatedly but you can call to see the status of your application if you hadn’t heard anything in a while).

Now that I’ve reminded you of “disruptive” things to do, what are are you going to do to get your hotline to bling?

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Molly…You in Danger Girl!

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Are you on LinkedIn? As I sit here on a plane to the annual LinkedIn Talent Connect Conference my frustration is growing. Why is it growing? Glad you asked. Literally thousands of recruiters and HR professionals are traveling to Talent Connect to discuss and learn how best to find and retain TALENT through things like employment branding, employee referral programs, creating better job postings, data/analytics etc. with a LinkedIn narrative.  I hear people say all the time there are no jobs and I would have to say that’s not completely true (I’ll explain more in a separate post). One of the biggest and best tools to find a job or networking opportunity is, LinkedIn.

The majority of the world’s professional talent and hiring authorities are on LinkedIn. I tell jobseekers all the time there has to be more effort on your part these days. I know it’s probably not fair, but when you have hundreds of candidates applying for the same role it’s necessary. We are living in a digital world and you, the jobseeker, have to physically reach out to people to highlight what separates you from other candidates. I have personally used LinkedIn as a tool to pursue 3 job opportunities that have been wonderful for my career. Submitting your resume and just letting the chips fall as they may, is not always going to get you that dream job. Companies pay thousands of dollars to LinkedIn for sourcing great talent despite the fact they have a stream of online applications. My charge to you is, make sure you have a professional online presence via LinkedIn and that you use it to your advantage. Here are a few tips to get started:

  1. Go to LinkedIn.com and setup a profile
  2. Upload a professional headshot/photo (no selfies!)
  3. Make your summary interesting and marketable (include keywords that make you searchable)
  4. Don’t list jobs dating back to 1990
  5. Make sure to check your settings so people can find you
  6. Connect with people you know you build your initial network  (i.e. school alumni, former colleagues, etc.)
  7. Join affinity groups based on your skill set

We’ll be talking about LinkedIn more in the coming months so stay tuned. Our friend Julie Huval from Benchley Design, wrote a great post last week on Branding Yourself like a BOSS! Take her advice and follow through with creating a profile on LinkedIn.com.  If you’re not on LinkedIn, in the words of Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) from the movie Ghost, “Molly, you in danger girl!”

Follow @thecareersalon on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the happenings at the LinkedIn Talent Connect Conference this week!

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