I was on the phone with a savvy investor a few weeks ago and he said “JibberJobber is like a beautiful woman in an ugly dress.  You really need to change the dress!”

I know, I know.  I’ve been working on it for years.  I think we’re ready to change the dress, but I wanted to show you and see what you think.  About 95% of the people I’ve asked love this, and 5% are violently opposed to it.

I guess that’s how it goes with dresses, too, huh?  Some love, some hate, and really, when it comes down to it, probably 80% of dresses are just fine.

So please, tell me what you think of this new design for JibberJobber… I hope to get it finalized soon (click to see bigger):

And if you can’t remember, here’s the current, soon-to-be old design (click to see bigger):

July 17th, 2008. LinkedIn Maintenance: Do This Right Now (or else?) (61 comments – once you do this, leave a comment to report back )

Make today the day you spend a few minutes to back up your LinkedIn stuff… this post tells you how to backup CONTACTS and your PROFILE (including Recommendations).

It might be the most critical thing you do today… I’ve heard of many, many people who have lost access to their LinkedIn account.  How would you like everything you’ve done on LinkedIn to go away?  I wouldn’t like that either.

So go read the post, and backup both your Contacts (by exporting your LinkedIn Contacts) and your Profile (by saving your Profile as a PDF).   Do this at least once a year.

BONUS IDEA: Once you have your Contacts exported, do something with them!  Many people import them into a CRM system (like JibberJobber).

If you don’t do that, at least go through the spreadsheet and look for people you should reconnect with.  The spreadsheet will have their email address, so it will be really easy to write an email and reconnect.

A big part of networking is NURTURING the relationship, and you do that with communication… like an email.

I dare you to nurture relationships!

When I started my job search, about 6 years and three weeks ago, I knew what I wanted:

• More than I was making in my last job (I had forgone three years of raises and salaries, and really felt I was underpaid (long story)).
• A short commute from my house.  The commute I had just left was 30 minutes, which I didn’t like.
• To stay in my house. I didn’t want to uproot my family.

I’m sure I had other criteria, but those are the three that I am remembering right now.  As the weeks went by, and my job search got more pathetic, my criteria changed.

I was okay to not have such a senior level title.

I was okay to commute into the city (yuck – I cringe as I write that!!).

I was started to look at jobs that would require me to move.  And I figured if I would move outside of my town, I might as well look anywhere in the world.

What would I entertain?  I was more excited about moving overseas and working in the high tech space.  For example, I would have loved to work at TomTom… here is a link to some cool TomTom jobs.  Doesn’t that look freaking awesome?

Honestly, if I found a job a couple of hours away from my house, I might as well move 20 hours away, right?  A job at TomTom, working on that awesome technology, in another country, is exciting to me, even now

What was on YOUR list of requirements when you first started your job search, and how has your list of requirements changed?

Yesterday I did some research on a company that should acquire JibberJobber.  I’m not in talks with them, yet, but if it happens, I want to know who I’ll be talking to.

I went into LinkedIn and did a search on the company, narrowing it down to executive titles.  I opened up six LinkedIn Profiles that I want to keep track of.  I was going to put them all into JibberJobber today, one by one.  But then I thought it would be faster to import them. So I did

First, I created a very simple spreadsheet. Note the first row:

In the first row, each column starts with what I’m putting below.  First Name, Last Name, Title, etc.

Then, I saved it as a CSV.  That is critical!

Then, when I imported this very small spreadsheet, in the last column, I chose which company to associate them to from this dropdown:

And then, just to double-check, I went to the company page and they were all there… beautiful!

I could have taken extra time to hand-enter them into JibberJobber one-by-one, but instead I opted to create a simple spreadsheet and enter them all in at once.  Easy!

This is a premium feature.  $9.95/month

I recently got a comment on this post and it reminded me how good the post (and over 20 comments) was.

November 20, 2009: LinkedIn Recommendation and Other Recommendations: SO WHAT???

The question I address in this post is:

When you get a Recommendation on LinkedIn, what do you do with it?

I think most people hardly do anything with it.

And that should change.

Click here to read what to do with your LinkedIn Recommendations… don’t skip the comments

Dear Monster Management:

I just read that you are laying off 400 people, worldwide. That is 7% of your workforce.  You are doing this so you can get your financial house in order, so to speak.

That makes sense, and we get that. Layoffs are “nothing personal,” of course.

I’m guessing you are offering outplacement services… which is great.  I’m guessing you’ll pay $2,000 average in outplacement for each of those people, which means outplacement will cost you 2,000 * 400 = $800,000.  That’s not too bad, and hopefully your terminated employees will use and appreciate the services.

Let me suggest that you consider one of two things:

1. Complement the current outplacement offering with JibberJobber and my videos that I’ve created to help people in their job search. So, in addition to the $800,000 that you are giving to one of the big outplacement companies, ALSO buy your terminated employees a JibberJobber outplacement package (which will complement, not compete with, the other outplacement services).  OR,
2. Don’t get outplacement services, and instead spend a fraction of the $800,000 and the JibberJobber package. A fraction of the $800,000.  High value services, less expense.

I know $800,000 isn’t much for a company your size.  I’m hoping that your 400 terminated employees, and then people that are left, will appreciate your goodwill gesture to help your alumni get back on their feet.

We’d love to be involved… contact me?

Sincerely,

Jason Alba

Monster watcher and CEO of JibberJobber.com

On the user webinar this morning someone asked my thoughts about their situation: two advanced degrees, and not even able to get an entry level job.

I have a few thoughts on that:

The idea of a career and job has changed.

I’ve blogged about this quite a bit.  No longer are we shooting for a long-term career with retirement benefits.  We’re happy if we find a place where we might settle in for a few years.

My recruiter friend Robert Merrill told me a couple of years ago that he thinks we’re getting closer to becoming a world of 1099 workers.  What’s that?  1099 workers are contractors.   No more FTE (full time employees).

Have you seen a trend moving in that direction?

Even if you are hired as a FTE, the company treats you as a 1099, with frequent layoffs and rehiring.  Crazy stuff.

That’s one reason why I’m writing the book 101 Alternatives to a Real Job.

Whether we are out of the recession or not, employers are going to be cautious/skeptical.

Until they feel really good about their market and customers, they aren’t going to commit to the salary and overhead of a new employee, unless it’s critical. (So, how do you prove you are critical?)

The pending election will probably make employers wait on big (hiring, strategy, product line, etc.) decisions.

What impact would Romney or Gingrich have on our economy, trade, markets, taxes, etc.?

What impact would another Obama term have?

Whatever you think it will be, each employer has their own opinion, and they might be waiting on big decisions until… the end of the year :s

Trivia: One of the biggest spikes in JibberJobber signups was when Obama was elected President, through the inauguration.  I was amazed to see how many people started to seriously take career management into their own hands upon hearing that news.

If that’s the case, what does 2012 mean for job seekers?

I send a lot of emails to people who are in my JibberJobber database.  It’s kind of a pain (read: it takes more than 4 seconds) to get their name, and then their email address, to compose a new email to someone.

I asked my team to make it a one-click process, and this is what we came up with:

From the Detail Page of your Contact, if you have an email address, there is now a little icon that you can click that will start the email:

When you click the email**, it takes the first name, last name and email address, and puts it in an email message (with whatever email client you use: AOL, Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.):

BONUS: I just saw this, on a Company Detail Page… cool!

I know, we are only saving you a few seconds.  But this has been a pain for me, and when I’m sending a lot of emails it helps the process go quicker.  Pain solved.

In reality, this is one of those little tiny things that saves time.  A few seconds here, a few seconds there, makes the system more painless and more usable… right?

** NOTE: you have to go into your browser settings and designate what happens when you click on an email link.  Here’s a generic google search on it… here’s a search to do it from IE, FF, Chrome, Safari …. you might have to do your own Google search to figure out your own browser.

January 8, 2008.  The Other Hardest Question: How Can I Help You? I was about 18 months into my business and networking like crazy.  Meeting lots of people, becoming a “power connector,” and having fun.

But people would ask: how can I help you?

And my response was usually something like “nothing for now, I’ll let you know.”

It was a bad answer, because people wanted to help me, but I wasn’t letting them help me!  Crazy, I know.

Here’s my post about it, where I actually answered in a much better way: How Can I Help You?

My advice to you: figure out how to best answer that question (and it’s variations).  And maybe you, too, can find out how close you are to Mr. T (read the post for more :p)!

I have an opportunity for a hungry salesperson.

It is 100% commission.

Does that bother you?

Does it scare you?

Is that “below” you?

I knew what I wanted in my next job (a certain salary, benefits, etc.), and I “couldn’t” settle for anything less.

But, as the job search went on, I got hungrier and hungrier.  I changed my expectations and priorities, and got to the point where I need to work for money.  That’s what it came down to.  My high expectations changed to satisfy survival needs.

It’s why I started my business when I did.  Even though I had high hopes and aspirations of what I could do in my own business, I still would have preferred a fat corporate job at a big, popular company.  The security in that role had always appealed to me.

But I saw that wasn’t going to happen, and I had to go to Plan B.  And then Plan C.  And then Plan D. And then I started JibberJobber.

Since I started I’ve talked to people who were hungry… really hungry.  But, not hungry enough to do straight commission.

That’s okay, I get that.  It’s a personal choice, and my offering was unproven back then.

But I am overly impressed with the person who believes in herself enough to say “I am hungry. I can dedicate time to this and work as hard and smart as I know how to either be successful, or at least give it an honest effort.”

Honestly, as a business owner, I’m afraid of hiring someone who, to me, is unproven, but requires a lot just so they show up.

For the last almost-6-years I could only “eat what I kill” (gross analogy, but common with salespeople :p).

I want to partner with someone who is willing to risk, and work, and think, and put skin in the game.  That’s who I’m going to trust with my business and success.

Am I shortsighted and immature?  Perhaps.  But I own the company, and that’s who I’m looking for.

My question to you is this:  if you come across an employer that has similar hangups , how do YOU let them know that YOU are the right person for the job, to make them more successful, and not be an entitled corporate guy?

If you can’t help me see it that way, we won’t get very far.

So, how will you help your interviewers see it that way?

Over the last 6 years I’ve met people who are hungry, and give the appearance that they will work very, very hard.  And I’ve met people who seem more entitled, and will spend lots of time in or planning or preparing for meetings, and really cost me more than they bring to the table.

Which are you?  Which do people think you are?