Recently a JibberJobber user sent me a resume that one of my colleagues did for him and asked me what I thought.

The resume was really quite impressive.  I’m not surprised. The resume writer is someone who has been doing this for a long time and loves to stay current and do a great job.

My first impression after looking at the resume was that this guy had decades of doing amazing things.  The companies he worked at, and the products he worked on, are household names.

If I were interviewing I would want to satisfy curiosities and ask more.  I would want to ask stories about his experience.  Some of my questions would be because it would be intriguing to know, and others to learn how involved and instrumental he really was in each of the things he claims on his resume.

He needs to go through his resume, pull out every claim, and put at least one story behind it.

I’m not much for critiquing resumes.  I almost always decline when someone asks me to look at their resume.  But I opened this one and that was my very first impression.  You have a great resume, now what?  Be ready to TELL STORIES!

My second thought was to be careful not to ask too many UNQUALIFIED people their opinion of the resume you just got.  I asked people for opinions of my resume and the information I got was misleading (making me think it was great, while it really kept me out of interviews).  Everyone will have their opinion but recognize this is a marketing tool to get you interviews, and that is it.  Dick Bolles talked about resumes very frankly in our last Ask The Expert – you can view the interview here (he comes on 20 minutes into it).

I found this article on About.com at the end of last year: Ten Keys for Taking Control of Your Career

#7 says to get organized.  I would definitely encourage you to use JibberJobber to get (and feel!) organized.

#9 says to boost work relationships.  From tracking and recognizing birthdays, like the author says, to other small gestures, you need to NURTURE relationships NOW.  Don’t wait until you are in transition.  Dig that well now!  Yes, JibberJobber is the tool to help with that.

Experts are talking about this stuff… JibberJobber is the tool to DO IT.

I found this article on Job-Hunt.org: How to Organize and Track Your Job Search. There is a link to another article about following-up in a job search.

I like everything Hannah is saying in her articles.  End your frustration, and impress recruiters by not sounding lost or uninterested, by staying on top of this.

Hannah suggests some systems, I used an Excel spreadsheet, but I don’t think there is anything better than JibberJobber.

Read her articles and just about everything she talks about can be done within JibberJobber… even the free level!

JibberJobber is an online job search organizer.

WHY organize your job search?

• So you don’t miss follow-up opportunities.
• So when the recruiter calls you, you can speak intelligently about the job you applied to 3 weeks ago.
• So you can see the progress you are making.
• So you don’t lose track of contacts and companies that you initiated a relationship with a few months ago.
• Because this is a very complex process, with lots of data points.
• Because you are collecting awesome and powerful data that will help you in your job search, in your next job, and in future job searches.

HOW do you organize your job search?

The simple answer is get on JibberJobber, and sign up for the live weekly user training.

JibberJobber replaces the job search spreadsheet.  A spreadsheet simply can’t handle the complexity that you create in your job search activities.

JibberJobber complements your email system.  Especially with the awesome email2log feature.  Outlook alone will not manage the complexity that you need to manage.

JibberJobber helps you track the five most important things in your job search that you need to track:

1. Contacts: who you meet, who you want to meet.
2. Target Companies: companies you are and want to network into.
3. Jobs you apply to: whether you apply online or have found them in the hidden job market.
4. Conversations and important notes: about interactions with any of those (we call these Log Entries).
5. Action Items: to follow-up on any of those.

Want more “how?”  Sign up for the next JibberJobber webinar here.

Last week I announced a massive change in the levels on JibberJobber.  We had to tidy up some code before we released it, and the release happened late last night.

You can read the details in last week’s post.  In short, this means the free verion of JibberJobber is way, way more powerful.

In fact, as of right now, there are only a few reasons to upgrade.

This change prompted job clubs and other organizations that help job seekers to re-evaluate JibberJobber, and recommend it more.

I hope this change helps YOU re-evaluate JibberJobber (and taking ownership of your own career management) more.

Please spread the news with your contacts, job coaches, outplacement companies, university career centers, and family and friends, whether they are in transition or not.

JibberJobber just became way more relevant to you.

So, why would anyone upgrade now?  It’s simple… choose one of the following four reasons.  If those don’t matter to you, use the free level forever

Reason 1: The Email2Log feature is awesome.  Imagine you send 20 emails a day.  This premium feature will probably save you one to two hours each day, as you track and organize your job search and networking.

What does the Email2Log feature do?  Simple: each time I send an email to someone (or multiple people), I BCC (blind carbon copy) the JibberJobber server and the email will (a) create a new Contact, if that email isn’t associated to an existing Contact, and (b) create a new Log Entry out of the email.

Reason 2: Import in bulk. If you want to import contacts from another system (any system that exports to a csv file, which is pretty much any system out there worth your time), you can import in bulk to JibberJobber.

Reason 3: Have as many Contact and Company records as you want.  The free level is still capped at 250 Contacts and 250 Companies… upgrade and you can have more.

A common question is “what happens if I am over the limit when I’m Premium, but then go to the Free level?”  Answer: We will not hide or remove your Contacts.  They are still there.  We do not hold your Contacts hostage!  Use them, edit the records, associate them to Companies, create Log Entries… they are 100% useful and functional!  So, during your Premium trial, add as many as you want (import thousands and thousands from Gmail, Outlook, etc.), and then later decide if you want to delete them… but get them in.

Reason 4: Get Action Items sent to your email or SMS.  Don’t want to forget things coming due?  Premium users get messages in their email or through text messaging on their phone.  Don’t regret missing a follow-up phone call just because you forgot to look and see what you had going on that day… get them pushed out to you!

I might be forgetting one or two features, but those are four compelling reasons to upgrade.

Like I said, if those don’t do it for you, use the Free level, with all the new bells and whistles that used to be Premium!

I love meeting JibberJobber users. Here’s a note that one use recently sent me:

I’m a business lawyer who graduated the year they froze most of the transactional / real estate law jobs. I’ll say two things:

(1) most of the networking advice I got from my career services office was HORRIBLE; and

(2) after taking the initiative to re-educate myself years later, I (literally) cried tears of joy when I found JibberJobber.

This is such a well thought out and incredible service. Thank you for being passionate and obsessed enough with the idea of streamlining your networking process and generous enough to share it with the rest of us.

I wish you the best in all that you do!

I sure love getting emails like this.

I am, and have been obsessed, about the networking process, and making it better (or, as this person mentions, streamlined).

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feelings – it strokes our ego and is fuel for our obsession!

On Friday I told my JibberJobber LinkedIn Group that I was going to make a massive announcement on the blog today.

We were going to do a release (that means, change the software on the server) last night and I was going to be ecstatic to to share what we did.

Alas, we didn’t make the release last night but should in the next week or two.  I wasn’t excited about postponing this release but we had a good reason to wait.

I’ll make the announcement anyway, though.  Instead of “here’s what changed last night” I’ll tell you what to expect in the next week or two:

These weren't free before, but they will be soon!

First, we are moving most of the Premium features to the free (Regular) level.

I think this is going to be a significant boost to JibberJobber and to you (a rising tide raises all ships, right?).

For almost seven years we have had a bunch of bells-and-whistles that were Premium features.  We have identified just a handful of things to keep Premium and we are moving the rest to the free side.  The handful of features that will remain PREMIUM include:

• Limit of 250 Contacts and 250 Companies on the Regular level* (see footnote below),
• Email2Log to create Log Entries and Contacts,
• Importing in bulk (from Outlook, Gmail, etc.),
• Action Item reminders to email and text/sms

Features that will soon be on the free Regular level include:

• All of the reports,
• Exporting your data,
• Merging records from the List Panels,
• All of the icons under List Panel, including: merging, exporting, the two reports, managing Tags, etc. (very useful features!),
• Ability to add multiple email addresses and phone numbers on a record,
• Categories in the Interview Prep area,
• Features on the Action Item panel on the homepage, including RSS, the Calendar, etc.

There are others that moved from Premium to Free but they are less important.

There are two reasons for this change (here’s a peak into our business and strategy):

1. It is now a lot easier to understand the value proposition of the upgrade. I think before it felt like nickle-and-diming… too many little features here and there, and it was just too complex.  Plus, the features we kept as Premium are the features most people upgrade for (not many people said they upgraded because of the features that we are moving to the free side).
2. If you can’t upgrade, you will still get significant value out of using JibberJobber. I tell my team that I want more (a) signups, (b) users, and (c) upgrades.  If we make the free level of JibberJobber more useful to you then you are more likely to become a hardcore USER.  I want more of my signups to become users, and I this should have a significant impact on that.  (and, more users will turn into more upgrades – use it, love it, get hooked on it, and you’ll be more okay with paying for it)

If you upgraded for a feature that is now free, simply downgrade by clicking on Account and then clicking the button to stop your subscription.

Second, we are introducing the Duplicate Finder.

This is something I’ve wanted for years.  I have almost 6,000 Contacts in my system and I thought “how cool would it be if we could push a button, see a list of duplicates, and then easily merge dups?”

I’ll tell you: it is VERY cool!

We’ve worked hard to make this easy to use and not overburden the server as it sifts through tons of records.  It’s taken lots of development, tweaking, testing, and more to get it ready.  I hope you enjoy it and get good use out of it!

I’ll explain more when this feature is available. And yes, it will be in the free level.

More exciting changes are in the works as my programming team is moving forward quickly!

I recently got an email from Wayne, who is doing a lot of right things, but perplexed that his outbound communication attempts aren’t getting the results he wants.

What would you recommend?  Leave your advice in the comments below.  I’ll answer with my ideas on Monday’s blog post:

I have a question about not getting a return phone call from a potential  networking contact after 5 or 6 tries. The following is my approach:

1.  I make a call during off hours (to ensure voicemail) letting the individual know about my purpose (evaluating some career options) and I wish to expand my network with other experienced professionals through a brief meeting. I also mention that they should expect a follow-up letter in the mail.

2.  The letter (see below) goes out 2 days before the call via normal mail, with the intent that it arrive not more than 2 days after my initial voicemail call.

3.  I then begin following up the letter and initial call with other calls (almost always getting voicemails) asking them if they have received the letter and would it be possible to spend a few minutes with them. If it is a VM, I leave my name and number and ask them to call back.

4.  A couple of times when I have received a call back, people pay no attention to the networking aspect and probe me on what I am looking for re employment

5.  After 5 or 6 tries using this method, I switch to something else (e-mail if possible)

I can only assume that something is either wrong in this process or I am missing something because activity (meetings) have been painfully slow to come my way.

Here’s the letter he sends (see #2, above).  This is with a nice letterhead with all the contact info:

Dear

My name is Wayne ———- and I left you a telephone message recently with respect to connecting with you on a professional level. I am an executive in the ————— business, formerly with —————-, and I am evaluating career opportunities.

I am seeking to expand my network and I would like an opportunity to meet with you in order for you to get to know me.

I am not expecting you to know of a job available for me although that would be nice. Rather, it is to ask you, professional to professional, if you would be willing to look over a list of target companies when we meet and perhaps share some of your knowledge base on a few of them.

My tactic is to connect with professionals in the industry with the goal of becoming “top of mind”, partly in the event you may require industry information from me , but also to seek out the right ————- professionals to network with. As a result of these, and other initiatives, should a career opportunity open up in the future within our industry, my expectation is that I will be thought of first.

I would very much prefer to meet with you in person for 20 or 30 minutes within the next few weeks. May I suggest the following dates and times for a face to face meeting but please suggest alternate dates if they are not suitable to your schedule: ….. ( dates and times)

Sincerely,

Alright smart people, what do you think?  What would you tell Wayne?

And Wayne, thank you for letting me share this with the world. I hope the answers in the comments will be helpful to you and many others!

I was going to say “go read this post” but as I read through it I found there were too many gems that I didn’t want you to miss.

So really, go read this blog post from Tom Bolt, an HR and recruiting expert : That Other Black Hole – Job Seeker Amnesia

Here are the things I LOVED from this post:

Tom starts off empathizing with the job seeker who gets a call and isn’t ready for the call.  He says that when asked about a particular job you have applied for, and it doesn’t go as you probably planned.  He says:

“How do I know this happens? It’s because I’ve been that voice on the other end of the line. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened while calling a job seeker and the conversation went strangely silent.“

How about you?  Have you gone strangely silent yet?  It’s embarrassing.

He then talks about the irony that if a recruiter doesn’t remember you (even if you are absolutely not a fit for the job), the recruiter is considered thoughtless, lazy and stupid. And he says:

“When the shoe is on the other foot and the recruiter is sucked into the job seekers’ bottomless void of amnesia, is it really so different?“

Read that again.  You have probably bashed that stupid, inconsiderate and rude recruiter (or you’ve heard others bash).  Don’t you think that recruiters think of you, the unprepared, the forgetful, the unorganized, as thoughtless, lazy or stupid?  Or perhaps uninterested, aloof or simply not the right person for the job?

Recruiters are looking for people they can confidently present to their client (the hiring manager).  If you are any of those things the recruiter isn’t going to CONFIDENTLY present you!

Tom goes on to say:

“…it is absolutely imperative that you keep detailed records of all of your contacts, applications, leads, conversations and anything else that could keep you on track.”

ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE.  Seriously.  I’ve thought that since I started JibberJobber.  Some people, rookies, beginners, think they can remember this stuff.  I tell you, as your job search goes on longer and longer, you can’t remember it.

ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE.

He continues:

“JibberJobber is an excellent online contact manager designed specifically for the job seeker and leaves little to be added other than entering your data every day of your search.”

And, with our Email2Log feature we make it easier to enter data every day. You simply send an email to your contacts and blind copy JibberJobber and that’s it!  It is SIMPLE to update your data every day.

He says:

“Really, the reason for keeping records is not just to prevent embarrassment.”

You’ll need to read his post to learn why… and what his “finally” advice is.

Great post, and thank you to Tom Bolt for the props about JibberJobber!

Lately I’ve been adding new Contacts to JibberJobber via email.  It’s one of the coolest features we have.  I simply find someone I want to put in my system, send them an email, bcc my ultra-secretive email address, and if the person isn’t in my database it will be added (along with the email contents, as the first Log Entry).

If you don’t know what I’m talking about (a) you are missing out and (b) you need to watch the video on this post (Email2Log – here is Part 3 where I talk about how to do this).

Anyway, back to how I find that person.  I’ll email them but I keep their LinkedIn Profile up so I can grab their picture, title, location, etc.  When I create the Contact record using Email2Log I am only adding the first name, last name and email address.

Normally my Contacts List Panel is ordered so I see the most recent Contacts I’ve entered at the top of the list.  But sometimes it is not ordered like that… and sometimes I feel it takes to long to come up and then reorder, or clear a filtered search or something like that (yes, I’m that impatient).

I have found a better place to find the new Contact.

Instead of going to the Contact List Panel I mouse over Reports and then click on the Log Entries and Action Items Report.

Anytime you use Email2Log you are creating a Log Entry, so it will show up in that report (which is a List Panel).

I have this report ordered so that I see the latest Log Entries or Action Items at the top.  I simply come to this report and look to see if the email is on the top.  I am showing the Contacts column (if you don’t see it, click on the manage columns icon and add it), and I simply click on the person’s name and it takes me to their Detail Page.

The Email2Log is on a 5 minute cycle, so it might take a few minutes before it shows up, but this is my fastest way to getting to that newly created Contact record so I can put more details on the record. For some reason I like doing it this way rather than going through the Contact List Panel.

Cool, huh?