That is how Nick is: gutsy.

Nick Corcodilos is an undisputed subject matter expert and thought leader in the job search space.  He has been writing for syndicated columns for years, and many thousands of people have read and benefited from his work and his perspective.

I got a chance to check out his new How to Work With Headhunters and even my expectations were exceeded – this is a terrific book and one that I recommend to anyone who is ready to really understand how recruiters play a part in your job search.

I didn’t understand – I thought recruiters found me a job when I most needed it.

Nothing further from the truth, especially in my situation.

Thankfully, one recruiter said “Jason, you’ll find a job for yourself sooner than I’ll find anything for you.”

It was then that I started to understand the job seeker / recruiter relationship.

If you aren’t getting value out of recruiters, and the valuable resource they could be in your job search and career management, then check out Nick’s book: How to Work with Headhunters… and how to make headhunters work for you.

Also, sign up for Nick’s free weekly newsletter – I’m on it and it has great info every week.  Go to Ask the Headhunter and you’ll see the link to subscribe towards the top.

Facebook has power in numbers – and I’m amazed at the connections I’ve made because of Facebook that I didn’t make in LinkedIn.  I’m also amazed at the conversation that happens in Facebook that isn’t happening elsewhere.

If you want to brush up on your Facebook understanding, or wrap your brain around a Facebook strategy for you, come on over to the webinar.  It isn’t free but it will be worth it.  Here’s the description:

Facebook is the website that has all eyes on it. They recently announced their 300 millionth signup. (for some perspective US Census Bureau reports the United States recently passed the 300MM mark.)

What does this mean to us as executives? How can we use Facebook as part of our career management strategy and how does it fit with LinkedIn and other social networks? Should executives even have a Facebook strategy? Considering the number of signups and visitors (hovering around 120M per month and the companies who are developing online marketing strategies that include Facebook), it is essential that we understand what it is and what we can do in it.

In this 90 minute session you will learn:

• Learn how to navigate through the noise and clutter of Facebook to find information relevant to you.
• Learn to set up your account and network and, once and for all, answer the question of how to separate your personal and professional contacts.
• Learn to use Lists, Groups and Pages as effectively as any marketer uses them in a commercial environment.
• Learn to develop a search strategy to help you network your way into key company or industry contacts.
• Learn to communicate with network contacts and help them get to know you better.
• Learn to keep abreast of current issues and opportunities within your network…to further develop relationships.
• Learn to find relevant audiences where you can find relevant contacts and further develop your professional brand.
• Learn to incorporate Facebook into an overall personal social marketing strategy.

Register here.

See ya there

One of the most touching points was when I happened upon a few WWII veterans who had some WWII memorabilia on (you know those hats, with pins, sweatshirts, etc.).  Many of them were in wheelchairs, I assume due to old age.  They were there to remember, feel, pay respects, etc.  I got choked up – it’s easy for us to see a bunch of old men and women who are there to see what Uncle Sam has put up for them, but when you think about the hardships they may have gone through – fox holes, seeing their buddies die in front of them (or in their arms), having to come to grips with killing others who may also have been husbands or wives, or mommy’s or daddy’s.

I appreciate Veteran’s Day as a day we can pause and think about and respect these warriors – people who fought for freedom and liberty.

You may already know about my special offer for military coming out deployment or transitioning out of the military.  You can learn more at JibberJobber USA.  This is just a little something we can do for those who are serving their country.

Here’s another special offer from my buddy Thom Singer – from his blog post Honoring a Soldier’s Service, Thom says he is sending a copy of this book “Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips To Energize Your Career” to the first 100 active U.S. military or veterans who email him – the publisher pays for all S&H costs so it’s just a simple email to soldier@newyearpublishing.com.

It is as simple as that… if you have a friend this applies to let them know about it.

I’m at a Networking Event — Now What??? is a terrific resource for anyone who has to go to any kind of networking event for the purpose of… networking!

I remember a few years ago when I went to networking events and cheated… I went late and left early.  I totally missed the point of the event, and missed out on opportunities to meet people who could be helpful in my job search.

Now when I go to networking events I am really looking for networking opportunities.  But it is not as easy as I originally thought – to have a successful experience because of a networking event there is:

1. Preparation: what do you do BEFORE you go to the event.
2. On-site performance: not that you are performing, but I didn’t know how else to say this – you are “on!”  This means you need to put fear and pride aside and get the job done – many times all this takes is starting out by saying “hi” to someone.
3. Post-event followup: after you meet someone, get business cards, exchange emails, what do you do?  This is the key, and perhaps a great opportunity for failure (if you don’t followup).

In this book on how to work a networking event Sandy teaches you how to really, effectively get value out of your networking.  I don’t care if you are networking with job seekers, business owners at the  chamber of commerce meeting, at a luncheon with managers and directors, or with your target prospects – this book will help you understand how to more effectively work the room, find those key relationships, and then move forward from there.

Congratulations to first-time author Sandy Jones-Kaminski for this very useful book (see what others have said about it here)!

You can get it for $19.95 from Amazon or from Happy About, or get the ebook (immediate download) for only $11.95.

Once you get it, if you like it, consider giving it a favorable review on Amazon – thank you!

Twitter for Job Seekers (the video) is specifically designed for professionals in a job search.

It is a 1 hour and 24 minues (and one second) video, walking you through what Twitter is, and how to use it in your job search.

It’s based on the idea that you want to find network contacts who can help you in your job search – find people to add to your own personal/professional network, as well as how to communicate with them after you find them.

There is also training on what to do with your own Twitter account. As a professional, what could or should you be tweeting?  (going into personal branding, and how to use Twitter as a Personal Branding tool)

I show you how to get value out of Twitter EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT.  This is essential for many professionals who aren’t excited to jump on this bandwagon, but still want to tap into the power that Twitter.com has created.  There is significant power there – and you can tap into it without even signing up for an account.

I won’t try to convince anyone to get a Twitter account, but I do want you to learn how to use this tool so you can achieve your career management objectives.

To access the recording (as many times as you like) simply do the following:

1. Login to JibberJobber.com.  This is as security measure so this video isn’t shared out inappropriately.  If you don’t have a JibberJobber account, get one on the front page – it takes about 60 seconds.
2. Mouse over the Tools link (from the main menu) and go all the way down to Videos (click on the Videos link).
3. The last tab on Videos is “Premium Videos.” Twitter for Job Search is the last one there.

This $50 investment into your career management is worth it… once you are done you should have your brain wrapped around Twitter as a tool, and know how you are going to incorporate it into your job search strategy.

(if you are already logged into JibberJobber, simply click here)

I’m not a salesperson, and I wasn’t at the time, but reading Jeffrey Fox’s book on becoming a rainmaker, and the strategy and tactics involved, won me over.

As CEO of Me, Inc. I think it’s critical that we understand our role of sales and marketing.  I don’t know of any better training, whether it’s beginner training or advanced training, to help us understand what goes into becoming an effective salesperson.

Salesperson = Communicator

Salesperson = Influencer

There is no reason to not be a more efficient communicator or influencer, I don’t care if you are unemployed, a super-geeky programmer (no offense intended :p), or a work-alone-on-the-moon astronaut.

You need this book.

It is about $14 on Amazon.  Or you might be able to get it at Costco (I’ve seen a bunch of Fox’s books at my Costco).  Or you can check your local library.

I don’t care how you get this book, but get it.  And read it with your “CEO of Me, Inc.” hat on.

First it was to start a crazy job search organizational website… JibberJobber.com.

Then it was to write a book that might sell a few copies… I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???

Then it was to actually become a professional speaker (got dragged into that one) … this is what prompted the redesign of JasonAlba.com.

Then it was to develop other informational products like the LinkedIn DVD: LinkedIn for Job Seekers.

Look where all that got me :p

Well, here’s the next one.  This met all of my criteria for doing a new thing (complement the other stuff?  Check.  Fun?  Check.  Rewarding? Check.)  Let me tell you how this all started.

Alison Doyle is the Job Search Expert at About.com.  When she comes to Park City with her man, who is the Ski Expert at About.com, she lets me know so we can hopefully have lunch together.  About a year ago I went to lunch with Mark Newman, CEO of Hirevue (a very cool company) and we were just chatting… no agenda, nothing planned, just chatting.

Somehow we got the idea to start an industry blog/site that talks about the plethora of job search tools (and stuff)… new ones, old ones, etc.  The idea was to create a place where we talk about what there is, what we think of it, how they could improve, and stuff like this.  Something like TechCrunch for the job search world.

Of course, we are not going to be, or compete with, TechCrunch. But we thought there was an opportunity to fill a gap.  We were SO EXCITED!

And then we all went back to our day jobs and got busy :p

Until recently… we finally pulled it together and decided to make it happen.  This week we came up with the name Job Search Talk, bought the domain, set up the blog, and started moving forward.

We’re jazzed, and hope to be able to provide value to people in the job search space (HR, job seekers, recruiters, software developers, etc.) – but we don’t want to (or, can’t) write all of it!  So, if you have any opinions on what is out there, or what should be out there, let us know – we’d love to have experts (whether you are a job seeker with expertise as a product user or a career coach or a software vendor) help us put up information and opinions about what is available… !

Cool, huh?  Crazy but cool.

Can you recommend the best PLANNING resources you’ve come across? I’m finding I’m a little scatter brained at the moment in planning what I need to do and could use the help.

I use Todo on my iPhone, which is a great app, and it syncs flawlessly with Toodledo, so some way to take JibberJobber with me would be great.

I don’t really have a “planning” system that I use, outside of my Outlook Calendar (soon to be integrated with JibberJobber… oh and I’m not even going to preannounce JibberJobber on the iPhone or Blackberry (oops, did I just preannounce that??).

Do you have any suggestions?

Michael is a really interesting person with a very loyal following… I’ve been watching him since then, trying to learn how he has created such a loyal following.  One of these days I’ll report on what I’ve learned from the master himself… for now, I want to share info on his latest book, which I have.  I haven’t finished it yet, so I’m going to copy and paste a message from Michael to you:

Hey, Michael here, calling on all you big thinkers. I’m talking about the biggest, brightest, forward-thinking, still dreaming, hard core intellectual thinking, down-to-earth realistic-being and even the most unconfessed, self-professed and secretive big thinkers (and, that pretty much covers everyone).

The think big revolution is in full swing. There’s no stopping it. Thousands of revolutionaries are coming together to collaborate, cooperate and combine forces to yes…  think bigger about who they are and what they offer the world.

The Think Big Manifesto

Thinking big is like a secret handshake, only there’s nothing secret about it. There’s no tips, tricks or mystery code to decipher.

Thinking big is about one person at a time experiencing his or her own personal empowerment against an existing, deficient (small thinking) system. It’s about being fully self-expressed in the face of all the forces that conspire to pacify your drive, your hunger to be the most you can be.

Be a part of history. Bring your big thoughts forward. Get your manifesto and road map to navigate these revolutionary times. The Think Big Manifesto is not just my manifesto, it’s our manifesto. It is the manifesto of everyone who is, who will and wants to think big.

Get your copy of The Think Big Manifesto.

Am I recommending this book?  I know some people won’t need it, because they are already big thinkers.  But too many people need to expand how they think (I think).  Just reading the first few pages of this book inspired me to think big, and now I think about how big (or little) I think daily.

Get the book.  Think big.  Change the world.

I have thought about recommending it for a while, but every once in a while there is something that is offensive to some group of people.  Randy basically finds crazy stories from the news, writes a small paragraph about them, and ends with his own tagline.  Nothing he has written has been offensive to me (yet) but the reality of how funny/crazy/weird our world is just keeps me coming back each week.

It’s been part of my sanity check.

In a recent edition he included a note someone wrote to him, which I wanted to share here:

[name] in South Carolina upgraded this weekend too, and attached a
note to me: “Randy, I just got laid off yesterday (Friday the 13th!)
and couldn’t think of a better way to make a clean break than to
finally become a paid subscriber. I’ve been a free subscriber for years
and benefitted from the laughs and groans each story brings. This is an
investment in my own faith in things working out for good for
reasonable people since you so frequently show the results of
unreasonable (and unreasoning) people. Thanks for providing this
service for all these years.” You’re most welcome, [name] , and best of
luck finding a new and *better* position soon.

My last day of work was a Friday the 13th also :p

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