A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to chat with Mark Hovind, of Job Bait, about this recession.  Mark is a numbers nut… he is very analytical and loves trends and crunching numbers and stuff like that.

We talked about a particular graph he developed showing the trends of the recession… I had seen this graph before but listening to him talk about various points, like times in history, what the trends mean, his predictions, etc. was fascinating.  It was one of those times I wished I had my JibberJobber family/users on the call.

Fortunately, Mark agreed to talk about it on a webinar - there is limited seats available so hurry and register here.  We will do this webinar on Tuesday, July 21at 11am MST (that is 10am PST, noon CST, 1pm EST, and I have no idea what time it is in Arizona - you’ll have to do your own math on that).

If you have any questions for Mark, please leave them in the comments on this blog post.  Otherwise, GoToWebinar will allow you to ask questions during the webinar, but I guarantee we won’t get through all of the questions.

Here’s the graph we’ll talk about (we might go to other graphs):

Finally, I didn’t know what to call this webinar… some of these came to mind:

• Where is the recession headed?
• When will the recession end?
• What should I do in my job search, career, or business, at this stage of the recession?

I guess it could all be summed up with “where are we at, where are we headed, and what does this mean for me?”

If you want to learn more about Mark you can check him out here:

• Mark Hovind (JobBait.com) on Brands, Tag Lines, and “Getting It” (JibberJobber blog post)
• Networking Doesn’t Work (JibberJobber blog post)
• Are you a “Fierce” Job Hunter? (Total Picture Radio interview)

Sign up for this webinar here, and tell all of your friends about it!

One of my favorite HR blogs is Punk Rock HR, written by Laurie Ruettimann.  Laurie just … tells it like it is.  Lots of surprises, and tons of honesty.

A few weeks ago she wrote a blog post about career options for HR professionals, based on a question she got from one of her blog readers.  The reader asks would she “suggest HR as a career?”

Laurie leaves the question to be answered by her readers… and this is where it gets really interesting.  Wonder why they say a job seeker should avoid HR?  Perhaps there is insight in some of these responses (you need to go to the original post to see all the comments, I’m only putting snippets here):

Ben Eubanks writes:

If you are wanting to be in HR because you’re a touchy-feely person, then I wouldn’t advise it.

Jen writes:

I would advise her to think of it as a career in babysiting. I hold hands when people get boo-boos, give them time outs and sometimes have to send them home. You also must have a high tolerence for crying, fighting and cleaning up messes.

HR Chick writes:

There are many days that you feel like someone’s admin assistant, nurse, counselor, mother, and babysitter. The reality is it can be frustrating and can make you jaded (if you let it).

Kerry says:

… HR is a people-watcher’s job, not a people-lover’s job.

There’s a ton more - go here to read the post.  The comments get pretty nasty… not towards an individual but towards the profession… to the point where Kerry says:  “Wow. We’re a really disgruntled group. Perhaps we ALL need ice cream.”

They really say to avoid HR in a job search because HR isn’t in a decision-making role, rather, they are in a screening role… but this post gives insight into another reason why you might want to avoid HR in your job search.

Seems like nowadays everyone says they are a LinkedIn expert… there are a bunch of people talking about LinkedIn… how to use LinkedIn in a job search, how to use LinkedIn to make a sale, how to use LinkedIn for  _________.

I realize I’m totally biased about my LinkedIn DVD (I’m quite proud of it :p), perhaps it’s not fair to tell you what I think of it.  Let me share what others are saying about it on Amazon.com:

VerySuperCool Sue writes from Austin:

I was surprised at the amount of information that was on the dvd. I thought I had finished, when I realized I was only beginning! I think everyone who has a Linkedin account could really benefit from watching this.

Paul Jones from Salt Lake writes:

I loaded Alba’s LinkedIn DVD and immediately started using the spacebar. You know, the spacebar pauses the video. And I needed to pause the video because so much of his advice was immediately actionable.

Kelly Kennedy says:

What I especially liked is that the DVD is a webinar format of Jason using LinkedIn, not just him standing there talking about it. As you view the DVD you see what he is clicking on, what Jason thinks about various features, and what you should do with LinkedIn for job search and career management. It is especially helpful how Jason highlights sections of the program and then discusses each section individually for clarity. Our undergraduate and MBA students have taken full advantage of the program and I admit that it was clearly worth the small investment we made.

Jeffrey Ogden in Bethpage, NY writes:

Jason has created a very useful and informative DVD for anyone who wishes to optimize his or her Linkedin profile. Why is it important? I just met with a Chairman and CEO of a good sized business. He said “I loved your resume.” I responded “What resume? I never gave you one.” He said “Oh, I mean your Linkedin profile.” [I LOVE THIS STORY!!]

Sophie Lagace from Eureka (!) writes:

I have used several other LinkedIn resources, including Jason Alba’s own book and blog, and I’m employed, not looking. Yet I still found value in the tutorials, and I took several new actions to connect with people and improve my profile.

Cultural Tofu writes:

Although it’s geared towards job seekers, I found the information to be relevant for non-job seekers just trying to build their professional brand and grow their professional network. … I highly recommend this DVD to anyone interested in updating their professional brand using LinkedIn.

Thom Allen in West Jordan, UT writes:

Most of the information in the DVD isn’t a secret, but Jason brings new ideas on how to use the features that already exist for LinkedIn users. You will find more opportunities to improve your LinkedIn connection base than ever. You need this DVD.

Julie Walraven in Wausau, WI writes:

… even though I have read his book before and worked with LinkedIn for a couple of years, I found a few more tips and changed my profile once again. … Screen by screen with Jason giving clear advice, jobseekers will learn what to do and what not to do with LinkedIn and why. As a professional resume writer, I am excited to use this new tool with my clients and am recommending it on my website.

Marc W from West Jordan writes:

Jason Alba shows us in his new DVD what works and why and how to implement it. He presents his material in a very easy to follow format with excellent examples.

Thomas Clifford writes:

What I like best is I can review any of the segments quickly and easily and then jump onto LinkedIn and execute the concept. … Books on LinkedIn are fine; this is like having a private one-on-one tutorial in your home. Pretty cool!

Awesome folks, thank you for those testimonials!

If you haven’t gotten a copy of LinkedIn for Job Seekers, the DVD, yet, click here to order.

JibberJobber is a job search tool, right?

Not really.

It’s a personal relationship management tool (shhh!  don’t tell all the job seekers using JibberJobber that it isn’t a job search tool!).

Let me give you an example of how JibberJobber could be used to manage relationships…

My wife’s grandma (affectionately called Nana) has a special gift - she always sends just the right thing on birthdays.  Sometimes its a thoughtful card with a bit of money, sometimes its a shirt that is stylish and just the right size - we don’t know how she does it, but she (a) never misses and (b) always sends the right thing.

We, on the other hand, miss just about everything we can.  My wife regularly finds fathers day cards, birthday cards, etc. from years ago.  We’ve been known to send a batch of these lost cards to cover the last few years :p

So what we should do, and anyone who sends cards and presents and well-wishes, is put our loved ones into JibberJobber (this is private, no one can see the people I put in (unless I make them my Coach)) and put their birthdays in.

All I have to do is put a name and birthday.  That’s it - you don’t even need the year.

Then, JibberJobber emails us on the first of each month with a list of upcoming birthdays (for the next five weeks), and another email on the day of (or a few days before) the birthday.

It is really quite powerful to get these reminders - whether you are in a job search or not, retired or in middle school, I think this birthday reminder is a very cool feature to help you stay on top of those special dates.

This is a free feature in JibberJobber - just login and start entering the info!

For a “limited time” (at least through the end of June) you can download Mary Elizabeth Bradford’s ebook called Phone Networking Secrets Revealed.  I blogged about this almost a year ago, now it’s free.  Back then it was 11 pages, but she’s added information since then.

To learn more about Mary Elizabeth, check out this 30 minute interview from Peter Clayton, of Total Picture Radio.

Here’s info from Mary Elizabeth:

This e-book is for anyone who has ever dreaded the “follow up phone call” after sending a resume!

Packed with easy to use tips and techniques and LOTS of phone scripts for various situations

so you can confidently make the phone calls you need to reach critical contacts, gain referrals and secure interviews.

For a limited time this $9.97 ebook can be downloaded instantly for FREE!

Just key in coupon code: careerartisan
***don’t forget to click the apply button!***

Here is the link: http://www.maryelizabethbradford.com/phonenetworking.php

Enjoy and feel free to let us know how the information helped you!

There ya go - enjoy!

Today I’m writing a post as a birthday present for my Austin buddy, Thom Singer.  Thom is really, really old today.  I’m not sure how old (oh, just checked his blog - he is 43 years old today - a lot older than me :p), but he has to be a lot older than me :p  For his present, I’m highlighting his new blog series called The ABCs of Public Speaking.

A is for the Audience

B is for Backstage

C is for Confidence

D is for Dress Code

… that’s all he has now - to keep up on this series go to ThomSinger.blogspot.com and subscribe to his blog towards the top right… I’ve subscribed for a couple of years and always look to see what he writes.

(no, he has no idea I’m writing this post, or suggesting people subscribe - but this post kills two birds for me - first, it is my bday present to him, second, many people ask me about speaking… and I know Thom has excellent info about speaking!)

Happy birthday Thom!

I remember when I was first married (and thus, quite impressionable :p), a friend of mine made a really interesting comment, something like:

Getting laid off is way harder than getting fired.

His logic was that if you get fired, it’s with cause, and you can know exactly what stupid thing you did to get you fired… but if you are laid off it was because of a bigger (group?) failure, and perhaps, just perhaps, if you would have worked harder you could have avoided it.  In other words, maybe it was because you weren’t working hard enough.

In 2006 I was laid-off (not fired).  At some point I was elated to be out of a hellhole that I was in for three years - a hellhole that caused stress on my family, my health, my sanity… but it was a hellhole with a salary and health insurance.

As I was driving home I was thinking of the things I would do — formulating a strategy to get through this short (HA!) period of unemployment, and land a job with a better culture, work environment, and pay than what I was leaving.  I had the world at my feet, I thought, and I was going to conquer.

I had no idea what I was up against.

So, let me share some thoughts with you, if you see the proverbial “writing on the wall.”  Things have changed in the last three years, of course, as have I.  These are the things I’d tell you to do if you are looking at a layoff (or job transition) in the next 12 months:

Get your resume in order. I wasted…. WASTED an entire week just looking for and then trying to recreate my resume.  I had to call my university to get exact dates and names of degrees I got… I didn’t want anyone to do a reference check and find a mistake, thinking i was being fraudulent.

As an employed worker this is a terrific time to engage with a professional resume writer… sure, take a stab at doing it on your own… but starting a discussion with a professional resume writer who is in the trenches right now, and understands current resume and job search issues, will pay off.

Start getting your network in order. In humility (that means I didn’t do this for a while - until I was humble enough to drag myself to an employment center) I sat down with a volunteer career counselor.  He asked me to start naming people in my network.  I discounted former coworkers, customers, prospects, workers at competitive companies, and family.  This really was my network, but I discounted them all for various reasons.  My network list probably had three people on it.  Pretty darn lame.

This excercise is a BRAINSTORM.  LIST EVERYONE.  Even your great grandma (who might know someone who knows someone…) … don’t discount anyone.

Put all of these people in a spreadsheet.  Just start with names so you don’t get hung up on phone numbers and emails that you might have to hunt down… list names and more names and more names …. get this network down!  And then import this list into JibberJobber, which is where you’ll keep track of each of these contacts, rank how well you know them, put their phone numbers, email addy’s, etc.

Start NETWORKING. The last point was to brainstorm and record.  This point is to meet with people - virtually, on the phone, in person, via snail mail, whatever.  Start making contact with them.

I was apprehensive about contacting someone who I hadn’t contacted in many years.  I worried if they were going to wonder why the heck I was calling them (I’ve heard “Is this Amway?” before :p).  I really didn’t know what I was going to say to them… how to phrase it, and how they could help me.  And I didn’t want to sound like a wounded animal.

But it’s better to go through that before you are laid off than to wait until you are laid off.

Here are the three networking things you need to do SOON:

1. Get on LinkedIn. This is easy, low-hanging fruit.  Get my LinkedIn For Job Seekers DVD to get up to speed quick.
2. Start reaching out to individuals. People on that list (the one you imported into JibberJobber) - contact them, let them know what you are up to (you don’t have to say you are going to be in a job search), and ask how you can help them.  Hard?  Read Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi.
3. Start attending local networking meetings for EMPLOYED people. This would be local chamber of commerce meetings, PMI chapter meetings, ASTD chapter meetings… figure out where you SHOULD HAVE been going all these years and start attending.  You want to grow your local network with people in your industry or profession… and you want to get on their radar.  Better to do it NOW than wait until you are in the job search.

Understand your finances. We sat down with our congregation leader, who asked us to lay out our monthly budget for him.  He wanted to understand where we were at financially, and how long it would be until we needed financial help.  He also wanted to see what we could easily cut out of the budget (cable, eating out, etc.).  This is simple, but we aren’t budget people, so it was enlightening to understand what our financial needs were month-to-month, and when we’d run out of reserve cash.

That’s all I’m going to recommend… I don’t want to overwhelm you with a list of 20 things to do… but if you want more, I got some great advice from my Twitter network:

I like this advice from Sandyjk, because you will have time to stop and smell the roses and do some stuff you might have always wanted to do - it’s a great time to chill and help and serve.  Maybe you’ll get a completely different perspective on life by doing so?

I agree, kind of… you might not be ready to announce it, or they might not be ready to handle it (you wouldn’t believe the number of people who tell me they won’t tell their dad they are in a job search - I hear this from the 40 - 50 year old, executive crowd.

I especially like her advice to establish an advisory team… very smart!

Yeppers…

That was from a “direct message” (DM) so I don’t have a link to it, but the link to the book is Get Back To Work Faster. Jill is terrific!

And the replies I got from Facebook:

Great advice…

Does this help?  What else would YOU add?

I’m beyond frustrated with Comcast email issues… I’m writing this post for two reasons:

1. To inform users and people who sign up for JibberJobber that they WILL NOT get email from us anytime soon - so those birthday reminders, action item reminders, signup verification, password reminders… none of that will get to you until we can get this resolved.
2. To tell people, whether you use Comcast as your ISP or email provider, that there is a much, much better way to handle your email.

First, for the issue of the JibberJobber mail server not able to send to Comcast addresses.  I was an email admin a while back and know that we will never win the war on spam.  Never.  It’s a huge issue, of course, as no one likes spam.  But sometimes the rules put into place cause more problems than they fix.

For example, when I was an email admin we set a “threshold” so that certain emails would go through (the good ones) and others would get stuck in a spam bucket (the bad ones).  Guess what? There were a number of “false positives,” that is, emails that were GOOD but got marked as spam.

Executives (who are typically the most whiney in situations like this) at first complained they got too much spam.  So we change the threshold so they get no (or little) spam, and then they whined they weren’t getting the important emails (the false positives, usually from their kids).

The problem here is that Comcast has blacklisted our server, which means NOTHING will go from our server to a Comcast email address.  We have tried to go through their process of getting off the blacklist, but have heard NOTHING back from them.  Very unprofessional.  Maybe @comcastcares on Twitter, but this is living hell for me, as I have a bunch of users saying “I never got _____ email.” And indeed, they are writing from a Comcast email address.

I’ll try again today, based on this blog post about getting off of Comcasts blacklist, but I’m not hopeful.

Enough about me and JibberJobber - now for the regular person.  I strongly encourage you to get a Gmail email account, for a few reasons:

• Gmail has an awesome interface on the internet, and other interfaces (with Outlook, etc.).
• Gmail interfaces with other cool tools, like the Google Calendar.
• Gmail has awesome spam management.  Rarely have I seen problems in their logic, which amazes me.
• Your Gmail address WON’T EVERY CHANGE.  Let me present a scenerio… today you are on Comcast (or Quest or whatever)… and then you move and get a different ISP or phone service.  Guess what - you will likely get a different email address… and have to tell all of your contacts.  Do this a few times and it’s frustrating to YOU and your contacts.  Get one gmail address now and keep it forever… regardless of who your ISP is.
• Gmail makes you look more sophistacated (or up to speed, or whatever) than other providers like AOL (old), Juno (older), Yahoo, etc.

There ya go.  I gotta stop writing and go try and get off of Comcast’s blacklist.  Grrrrrrrrrr…….

Oh yeah, in case you are having blacklist problems with your email server going to Comcast, here are some good reads:

• How to stay off the (Comcast blacklist) list - I’m not hopeful, but maybe it will help.  Could change anytime.
• Up to 8000 Comcast E-mail Accounts Compromised - guess they aren’t perfect either.  This was only a few months ago - March 2009.
• RBL - Blacklisted by Comcast - let’s hope I’m as lucky as this email admin.
• Comcast reports 35 percent decline in spam - ya think?  I wonder what increase they say in false positives.
• Comcast takes hard line against spam - no kidding.  So much for getting legit emails, too.

A few years ago branding and marketing experts told me I had to put some kind of guarantee or phrase in my marketing that would promise JibberJobber would help you find a job 30% faster, or get more job offers, or something like that.

It sounded really cool, of course… who wouldn’t want a guarantee to make their job search go faster, or be more successful?

Who doesn’t want a silver bullet for their job search?  Please, just give me “the job search secret,” let me move on to my next job and wash my hands of this unemployment crap.

There was no way I would put any kind of promise, or allude to any such promise, in my literature.  First of all, how do you back it up?  Second, what about the anomalies the economy (which was quite different three years ago), and the slackers?  What about people who weren’t doing a principle-based search (like mine - very not principle-based, and destined to failure)?

Perhaps the problem is my solution (JibberJobber) wasn’t priced appropriately.  For $99/year, what could you expect - a job lead straight to the corner office?  Not hardly.

We all know throwing money at a problem will make it go away - so what if I pay $7,500 to a firm that will find me a job?  Sounds sweet, and that sounds like just the right price (comparable to an amazing vacation, an industry certification and training, a car for my kid, etc…. this is not peanuts - since it costs so much it must work).

In the comments yesterday a JibberJobber Partner, Mike Ballard, wrote:

Another expose that needs to be done is that of so-called ‘Search’ firms that charge exorbitant up-front fees (often thousands of dollars) for their services, in exchange for a guaranteed ‘dream job’. Like the Ladders, these operations traditionally prey upon high-end execs that they figure have plenty of extra cash. Now we at (his employer) are beginning to hear stories of similar operations that are target low-income workers and charge a few hundred dollars for ‘guaranteed’ results. This is even more despicable for someone who may be only a few paychecks from the street.

There’s a big difference between hiring a job search or career coach who will help you along the process, and hiring a firm who will guarantee you a great job.  Can such a guarantee exist?

I can’t remember the names of any such firms right now, but I do remember hearing about some who continually change their names so you can’t find much information about them - my point is, please be careful where you put your money in a job search - and be very suspicous of guarantees or claims that seem to good to be true, even if they do look like your silver bullet to kill this problem.

This week a good friend is moving to College Station to start a five year PhD program.  I’ve talked about hiding out in college to wait a recession out, and that this is not a good idea, but this is different.  My buddy has had a terrific job in a great company, a beautiful house, and all the stuff that would indicate a successful career.  But he felt inspired to uproot his family and get the education and training to take his career in a different direction.

I dedicate this post to you, J.W.  I know you are going to be quote overwhelmed with school, and being a dad, and keeping your sanity, and living on paupers wages, but if you take career of your career future now, you should reap the rewards later.  Here’s my advice to you, as you prepare for years out of the “real world”:

• Work on your personal brand NOW. Don’t wait until who-knows-what.  The best example of someone in school who has developed an amazing personal brand is Rex Gradeless, the Social Media Law Student (er, social media attorney, really).
• Build your network NOW. You will work on project with, be in class with, rub shoulders with some amazing people.  Whether it’s the person sitting next to you in class, the professor, or the guest-lecturer, these are all people who can play a significant part in your professional network.  You MUST have a CRM in place to manage these relationships.  I didn’t and I regret it.  JibberJobber is a great the tool for this.  It doesn’t replace Facebook or LinkedIn, rather, it complements them.
• Help others. Whether it’s other students, undergrads, grad students, professors, etc.  Be helpful and it can come back to you in spades.
• Host dinner parties. A la Keith Ferrazzi (read Never Eat Alone).  These are just a few other couples of families in the program.  I think this is the thing I’m most jealous of - you are going to develop some awesome relationships with other students, be a moral support for one another, etc.  This can go far beyond the school years.
• Learn to talk about yourself the right way. Many students seem to be in a mode where they will be professionals some day, but today they are safely categorized as “not yet, I’m busy studying.”  It’s the same problem with job seekers… they want to say something like “My name is Jason, and I’m unemployed.”  In fact, they should say “My name is Jason and I’m an expert in __________.”  Being a student, just like being unemployed, is a temporary status.  You already have expertise in something else, don’t forget that.  Pick up a copy of Brag!, which is a terrific book to help you learn how to talk about yourself appropriately.
• Get on LinkedIn - NOW. You’ll need some training, so you can have a real, effective, proactive strategy (or at least not just let it sit there).  I have my LinkedIn book and my LinkedIn DVD, both which are excellent resources to bring you up to speed.

I’d love to lay out more stuff, and I know you are going to feel overwhelmed with school for the next few years, but now is the time!  Here are some related posts I’ve written that may also be helpful:

• Advice for the job seeking college student
• How To Volunteer In The Job Search
• Job Seekers…Help Your Network Help You (this is about effectively communicating who you are and how others can help you)
• Job Search Tips: What I Should Have Done In The First 30 Days
• How To Find A Job In A Recession

Good luck during this exciting time - we will miss you!