Tomorrow morning at 10MST (noon EST) I’ll host my first 45 minute BlogTalkRadio show.  You can listen live (through your speakers), call in with questions, or download and listen to the podcast later.  All the information you need should be on the BlogTalkRadio JibberJobber page (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/JibberJobber).

To listen live with your speakers, just go to this page at the right time (10am MST): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/JibberJobber

To callin and chat, the number is: (718) 766-4825

Susan coauthored Job Search Bloopers, which I’ve read and loved.

We’ll see how I do as an interviewer, and not an interviewee!

I was recently asked if resume writers were worth it, or if they would just give you a 1-2 page document that you could come up with on your own.  Let me share an experience with you.

After I got laid off, over the phone, I was asked to stay one more week to transition the new guy back as president.  There wasn’t much transitioning to do, since he had been the president about 18 months earlier, so we just had a few meetings here and there.  Plus, we were like “two bulls in a china closet,” or however the saying goes.  

I spent much of my time getting ready for my job search.  I looked, and looked, and looked some more for my resume.  Not sure why I did that, wasting a few hours looking for something that was at least six years outdated.  But is was like some old security blanket I was looking for.  I finally gave in and downloaded a template from the internet that I could use to start over.

After hours of tinkering around on this very, very short document I sent it to a few trusted friends. These were all people who were qualified to tell me if my resume was good or not.  Hiring managers, experienced professionals and executives, and even an HR professional from one of my last companies.

They all said it looked GREAT!  And it did look great.  It was shiny, squeaky clean, free from grammar and spelling errors.

And, it was IMPRESSIVE!  You should have seen the titles:

• General Manager
• CIO/VP
• IT Manager
• Programmer

Okay, the last one isn’t the most impressive, but hey, I thought I was hot stuff to have those first few titles on the resume.  Since I moved from a small town (Pocatello, ID) to a larger city (Salt Lake City), and I was hoping to go from a small IT company to a larger company in Salt Lake, people would be able to figure out I wasn’t the General Manager of GE, or American Express, or eBay, or something like that.  I had a big title at a small company.  And that was the problem.

Why?

Because I was applying to jobs with the following titles:

• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• Product Manager (this was my dream position)

When HR and recruiters saw my resume, they had to ask:

And I got put in the garbage pile.  My success rate (number of interviews secured / number of resumes sent) was really, really pitiful.  Like, 2%.

A resume writer would have interviewed me, tried to understand who I was and what I was looking for, and changed the resume so that my past job titles WOULD NOT have hindered my ability to get an interview.

Months and months and months went by, with no income. I forfeited thousands of dollars of income  Just a few hundred dollars, invested in a resume writer, could have changed that.

Is a professional resume writer worth it?  I believe so.  A good resume writer will deliver MORE than just a one or two page document. Click here to see resume writers who have partnered with JibberJobber. 

This post is brought to you by executive resume writer and career consultant Louise Kursmark. One of the leading career experts in the U.S., Louise has written 20 books about resume writing, interviewing, and executive search strategies. In her private practice, Louise works directly with senior executives to craft powerful marketing messages and methods for swift transition to the next exciting opportunity. Her passion is helping people “tell their story” in a way that is compelling, memorable, and relevant.  Louise Kursmark is a JibberJobber Career Expert Partner.

One of the cool things about my career expert partners is that they are thought leaders in the career space.  One of my partners, Louise Kursmark, is well-known as a thought-leader amongst her peers, recruiters, etc.  She has the uncanny ability to combine the “very nice person” characteristic with astute businessperson.  And she has a bunch of books that she has authored…

Her latest, 30 Minute Resume Makeover, is a great read.  At only $9.95, this 200+ page book has a ton of valuable information for you to understand the how and why of an excellent resume.  Louise includes a number of example resumes, picking them apart and explaining what makes them effective, what can be improved, etc.  If you are a “do it yourself” type, I’d say this is an essential purchase.

The tagline is “Rev up your old resume in half an hour”… here are the chapters:

• Chapter 1: Resume Diagnosis
• Chapter 2: Resume Repair: The 30-Minute Resume Makeover
• Chapter 3: Proofread and Polish to Perfection
• Chapter 4: Before-and-After Resume Transformations (has 18(!!) resume transformations, including a situation, the before version, the after version, and strategic thoughts)
• Chapter 5: Create a Killer Cover Letter (this is an awesome chapter)
• Chapter 6: Find a Job Fast
• Appendix: Resume Development Worksheet

If I had this book, my resume probably would not have sucked, and I would have gotten a job in 2006 (thank goodness that didn’t happen :p).

You can find her book on Amazon here, or at Wendy Enelow’s bookstore here.

If you want to find resume writing information on this blog, check out “The Resume Experiment,” a five-post series where resume experts and recruiters pick apart a resume and suggest their revisions.  Louise Kursmark was one of the expert resume writers contributing there.

Beverly Harvey is one of my expert partners. She runs Harvey Careers, and specializes in “empowering senior-level executives with savvy career marketing materials and job search tools.”

Beverly is conducting a three-part teleseminar called “How to Conduct a Highly Successful Job Search and Land Your Next Position Quickly.”

She asks: Is your job search stalled? Are you confused about the market place?

That is how my job search was. And I was confused since it was a “job seeker’s market” but no one would call me back.

I totally could have used this training. Here’s the deal… this job search series includes 3 calls (60 minutes each) that are recorded, and you’ll have access to them anytime (so you don’t even need to be on the calls). You also get a 45-page resource guide, a roadmap, and much more.

I haven’t taken the class, and I don’t have the resource guide. But I have seen Beverly at conferences and know that she is always keeping up on trends, is principle-based, and well-respected by her peers.

And she partnered with JibberJobber. That’s good enough for me… when a coach forks over some money to partner with JibberJobber they really show they “get it.”

Beverly gets it, and for less than $100 bucks you can tap into a wealth of knowledge.

How do you register? Just go to her website and scroll down to the bottom… or you can call 386-749-3111.

One last point. Even if you aren’t in a job search… you know, you already have your comfortable job… I strongly encourage you to sign up for this training. You never know when you’ll need it!

At the risk of diverging too much information about my business, and making it look smaller (or bigger) than what you might think it is, I wanted to share some stuff from my last coaching session.

I’ve been concerned about making sure that I tie up all my 2007 loose ends, and am prepared to hit it hard in 2008. We spent our last coaching session figuring out what all of this meant, and I left with an action plan so I’m pointed in the right direction.

It’s interesting to note that as we were ending the call I told Kent that I didn’t really like the fact that I got so much value out of our coaching sessions. You see, I’m quite self-directed, and independent. A lot of the stuff that we go through weekly is either “seeing the forest” or “seeing the trees” … stuff that’s pretty obvious if I would just steal some quiet time and think about it on my own.

Kent replied that he finds a lot of his clients get value, like I do, from these sessions. It’s not like we are going over anything as profound as physics, but having someone to walk you through the logic, helping you come up with an action plan, eliminate the noise, and hold you accountable later is quite valuable. Kent, by the way, is offering a free coaching session so you can see what it’s like… if you are in need of a job, career or interview coach you can check out my list of partners here.

Let’s get on to my list, though, as I think this might be helpful for some of you. In order to finish 2007 well I’m going to:

1. Finish the I’m on Facebook — Now What??? book. I wanted to get it do the editor last week but missed that. I need to get it there this weekend, and so this is the main priority for this week. Man, it will be great to have this writing done and not bleed into next year!
2. Wrap up all of my outstanding contacts for prospective partners. If you are a coach or resume writer you *might* hear from me next week (ah, that cat is out of the bag :p). Since early last year I’ve made over one thousands contacts with people that might want to partner, but I was rather disorganized in the early days and I know there are many who haven’t heard back from me after the initial contact. Plus, I have new, cool stuff to offer. I’d like to get this figured out and mostly wrapped up this year.
3. Get all my finances in order. I purchased Quickbooks a few weeks ago and have been putting in my expenses, and some revenue items. But I really want to get this all done by year end so that (a) I can know where I’m at, (b) have a system so I will be on top of this monthly, and (c) not have to worry about cramming this into next quarter.
4. Understand JibberJobber growth, trends, etc. so that I can plan accordingly on my marketing. Did you know that January is a huge month for people to reevaluate their career and job plans? It was a huge month for us this year, but in going over the numbers, I found that February was about 20% bigger. I want to have a better grasp on these numbers and not just fly by the seat of my pants (who comes up with these sayings??).
5. Spend time on my 2008 goals, strategies, needs, and figure out specific actions/tasks for the first quarter of 2008. I think the most important thing I can do for 2008 is to plan now. I have a lot in place (like my visualization), but having a concrete plan should help a lot.

What do YOU need to do this year to wrap it up? What about your 2008 - what are your goals for yourself and your career, and what are you going to do? You don’t have to leave a comment here, but I found that going through this exercise is extremely helpful!

On a job seeker Yahoo group that I’m on we saw a sad plea for help that ended like this:

Can anybody please give me any constructive suggestions. I don’t need slams or criticisms, I do that to myself enough. Any help would be appreciated.

I don’t want to post the entire request here because I don’t have permission to, but this is from an accomplished professional who has family and bills and all that stuff tugging at him, his job search has been fruitless, and he’s about to get his utilities cut off and his cars repossesed. It’s pretty bad. Here was my reply to this plea for help:

[username], wow, this is a painful e-mail, I’m sorry to hear about your trials. I went through a very difficult, non-fruitful job search last year and it changed my life. Here are some of my non-preachy thoughts:

1. What is your name? I’d like to do a Google search on you and see what others find when they want to find out more about you. Do you have a LinkedIn profile, a blog, any articles, any mentions online?

2. When you say “worked all of my contacts,” I’m trying to understand what that means. Do you have a weekly or monthly e-mail (like a newsletter) that you send to your contacts to keep them apprised of your situation and progress? I found that a lot of people didn’t seem helpful but it was either because (a) they didn’t know how to react to me, an unemployed guy, asking for help, or (b) it was out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Just letting them know that you are still fighting to find a job, and letting them know about what you are looking for, may prompt them to think a little harder.

3. Do you attend a local network meeting? I found the contacts at these meetings, over the months, were excellent. I would gravitate towards people that were really good at networking OUTSIDE of this meeting, and we were able to share leads in a big way. There should be at least 2 or 3 people that you can hook up with that will provide you emotional strength as well as good leads from the networking that they are doing.

4. Do you have a job search coach? This isn’t necessarily someone that you pay (you can’t afford that, as per your e-mail below), but you should be able to find someone that can help you and ask “I really need some help. Would you be able to be my job coach, meet with me weekly, and hold me accountable for my job search?” This person should ensure that you are doing the right things in your search, and will have an interest in your success. Do not underestimate the power of bringing someone in to help you (but, not your spouse).

5. Do you do volunteer service? You should look for some non-profits that could use your help and go give your services to them, like a consultant. This is an excellent way to meet new people AND show them how competent you are, and they should be able to help you meet others (lots of professionals and execs work with non-profits).

These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Please hang in there, I know how horrible this is, and you aren’t alone, even though it feels like it.

I don’t push JibberJobber, even though I want to (I’d probably get kicked off the list if I did).

If someone has reached out to you in the last couple of months about their job search, please follow up with them today to see where they are at. You never know, they might be ready to give up on their search (or life), and just a call or invitation to lunch can make a huge difference in their life.

In ecommerce web hosting what matters a lot is the affiliate program, which is why people prefer using search engine optimization services as a lot is at stake. The webmaster is asked to go for online backup and a broadband that offers secure wireless internet connection.

Tomorrow is the huge international Personal Branding Summit. See the post from yesterday to see the schedule of speakers. There is no cost to you, just go register and then figure out what sessions you want to call into!

I’m no expert in this, but I thought I would present this e-mail I got from a friend of a friend and see what you think:

In September, I walked away from dissatisfying career in order to venture out on my own as a freelance web designer. Currently I have a full time contract with a company, but it ends in a few weeks and at that point I’ll have to find my own clients. I may get rehired in the spring, but that’s never a sure thing.

Six months ago, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Since then I have been taking medication and recently started seeing a therapist. She said a coach might be able to help me learn to cope with ADD in my life and in my career. I can see that many of the problems I’ve had in my career may have been caused or at least worsened by my ADD. Throughout my life, I have had trouble with time management and motivation. I get distracted easily and end up wasting a major part of my workday on meaningless things. In addition, I’ve always been a terrible procrastinator and a perfectionist, which ends up being an impossible combination. Estimating how long a task should take is also a huge stressor for me, but it’s a required skill for bidding on projects and billing. It’s imperative that I deal with these issues right away. Otherwise, I don’t stand a chance.

If you have any ideas on coaching and coping with ADD in the workplace or know of anyone that I might talk to, it would be much appreciated.

Do you know anything about Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)? Are you successfully managing a career (or your own business) with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? (yes, I know there is a difference between ADD and ADHD) What advice can you offer this person?

Last week I flew to Savannah, Georgia, to attend the National Resume Writers’ Association conference. It was the second conference that I’ve been to in the career professional space and I absolutely loved it. My last industry was building maintenance/management, and conferences there were filled with people that didn’t want to be there, and wondering where the next golf course or restaurant was. However, people attending these conferences are usually paying their own way to be there, so they don’t really want to miss a thing. In addition, the conferences are small (around 100 people), so during the three days you can meet just about everyone.

Resume writers are special people. I couldn’t do it - I know my personality and what drives me, and the level of attention and creativity needed to write a strong resume in a challenging situation is something that I doubt I would be able to make a career out of. I remember last year when I did The Resume Experiment, Pete Johnson left a comment saying that he believes everyone should write their own resume. I definitely agree, going through the process is important, and we should all do it. But there are times when calling in a professional is necessary, or wise (or both)!

Sitting through the sessions at this conference gave me a new appreciation for professional resume writers. There is art, mixed with science, and these professionals are at the top of their game (and working to improve). Some have chosen to partner with JibberJobber to add value to the client relationship, as well as make their operations and marketing more effective and efficient. I’m pleased to present to you my seven newest partners (in the order that they signed up):

1. Kathy Warwick, Confident Careers
2. Linsey Levine, Career Counsel
3. Bonnie Kurka, Executive Career Suite
4. Susan Whitcomb, Career Coach Academy
5. Eleanore Farmer, Be Ready Resumes
6. Claudine Vainrub, EduPlan
7. Marcia Baker, Mark of Success

Many of you know where I’ve come from since last January. I was the guy who couldn’t get an interview (because my resume had problems). I was the guy who went from “60 to zero” pretty quick. It was demoralizing. Now, I have something cool that industry leaders are jumping on, and it is very, very flattering. I’m honored to be associated with these new partners, and thrilled to add them to my existing partners list!

One of the first things my coach had me do was develop a document titled “The Visualization.” This is a very personal one-page document with very specific targets, written in present tense. I was reluctant to spend time on my visualization, but I realized that in order to have our coaching relationship work, I needed to “play along” (I can’t think of a different phrase for that - I don’t mean to trivialize the coach’s system, but sometimes I’m too proud for my own good and disregard things as silly or meaningless).

At first I thought it was going to be a hokey mission statement, with all the feel-good words and cliche phrases that are in just about every mission statement in the world. I memorized the mission statement from my last company - there was the president’s version, and the workers version (which put an irreverent twist on the president’s version). It was fun to memorize, but really, when you got down to work it was easy to disregard.

I didn’t want to come up with a meaningless statement that sounded too good to be true, with little regard for my day-to-day battles.

I found the visualization to be different, though. To get me started, my coach sent me his. I was quite amazed - it was very, very specific. At first glance it seemed a little over-the-top, but as I re-read it, it was indeed achievable. In addition to goals, there was a resulting dollar amount tied to most everything. His was written in a way that it broke big ideas down and detailed certain parts of his visualized accomplishments.

Using my coach’s visualization as a model, I developed my own. It is one page. It serves as a motivation and helps me focus every single day (I have it right next to my keyboard, and on my fridge).

It’s easy to get distracted, or at least wonder if I’m distracted (I have JibberJobber stuff (design for the programmers, marketing and PR, accounting, admin stuff, etc.), this blog, book marketing (thank goodness the writing is done!), and a conference that I’m putting on with a partner in October. Not to mention stuff outside of work… I’m pretty busy, and it’s easy for me to either get too focused on one thing, or spend a lot of time on a lot of things with no focus.

That’s where the visualization comes in - like I said, it does two things for me:

1. It motivates me. I look at the numbers, which right now are targets, and think about how things will be different once I achieve them. My visualization very specifically declares the income I’ll have from various revenue streams, and for a guy coming out of unemployment, that’s very motivating.
2. It refocuses me. My most important target is in the first five words of the visualization document. It just happened that way - which is interesting because it’s obviously the most important thing on my mind when I wrote it. But now, more than 60 days after I wrote it, I find myself using the visualization to see if I’m deviating, or indeed working towards the goals I set.

I can’t share my personal visualization here on my blog - it’s too private. But tomorrow I’ll write a visualization that I should have written for my job search… and you’ll see how it differs from a regular old mission statement.

Have you gone through the visualization exercise, formally? If so, has it been beneficial to you?

The bank charges usually differ for each creditcard. But for those who always buy to let mortgages tales care of the rest, everything eventually leads to debt. Having a look at homes for sale is no reason to go crazy. People who work from home are well aware of the value of money and instead value becoming insurance leads instead.

A couple of months ago I had a chat with Linda Lopeke, who teaches at a university in Canada. Linda has had a career outside of the university but designed an MBA-level course called Fortune 500 Intelligence. From what I can tell this has been an excellent testing ground for her to refine her Smart Start program, as she works with hopefuls and wannabe’s (I was an MBA student so I can say that :p).

Linda has a program for “the rest of us” (meaning, not her students) where she makes some very strong claims. I don’t think the claims are far-fetched. A lot of what is being taught is not necessarily new stuff - although professional coaches are going to not only base their coaching on principles, but know the trends, fads and current career management stuff a lot better than someone who isn’t immersed in it all day long.

You can get a taste of her program here, with the free stuff.

You can get an idea of what she teaches here, with the Cash for College challenge questions.

Listen to her on the radio or read a press release here, to get to know her and her program better.

Her home page is really long but has a lot more info, if you are interested. The pricing seems nominal for someone that wants to get started on the career fast track… you can read all about it here.

Linda has a system, with newsletters and communication catered to those that are trying to figure out how to get ahead. She has teleseminar classes that you can dial into, and I think peer communication opportunities to get to know other people that are in the program. This isn’t a replacement for one-on-one career coaching but if you have been hesitant to jump into something like this, I think for the price, it’s a great alternative.

Do you have a coach yet? Do you have a mentor? Has it been beneficial?