How to research your way to a networking contact -

How to research your way to a networking contact - Is it socially acceptable to go up to random people on the street and invite them to coffee? Typically, no. You need to have a reason to meet, and it is up to you to come up with the reason before you do the inviting! Research is a key factor for successful networking. I like to tell my clients, Dont look for a job, look for a company. Similarly,   networkers should not first try to identify a list of people to meet, but rather identify organizations to infiltrate. How to begin? Easy! Think about geography. Its always easier to connect in person with people who are local. Plus, are you willing to relocate for a job? If not, clearly, the organizations in your area will be your targets. Use all available resources to identify organizations of interest in your area. Dont forget word-of-mouth resources, newspapers, information online and business journals. Julie Abraham had some great ideas posted on Career Rocketeer to help job seekers: Research these companies by looking at their website to understand their mission and values. Use Hoovers or Yahoo finance or some other library database (like Mergent) to look up financials (if public company), read the most recent annual 10-K report (if public company) to understand their strategy and vision, check their website for PR articles and look up articles on Proquest or some other database at the library. This should give you a good understanding of the companies strengths and weaknesses so you can ask intelligent questions when you speak with an officer of the company. Set-up Google alerts on these companies so you can read any breaking news. Search them on Twitter and other social media sites to understand their social media presence. Once you have identified several organizations, begin to tap your way into them. Leverage your LinkedIn connections and search other social networks (Twitter is my favorite) to determine logical connections. Now, it is time to contact people. Every time I talk to clients about informational interviews, I always emphasize the importance of approaching contacts NOT as a job seeker, but as someone who is simply gathering information. If you can convince yourself AND the person you want to meet that you dont expect the meeting to result in a job, you are much more likely to be successful securing appointments. Lets face it, if you approach as a job seeker, (I am looking for an opportunity working in _____, and I would like to talk to you about positions at your organization.), your contact will not want to speak to you unless he or she actually has an opportunity in mind. No one wants to disappoint another person, so if your target contact has no job in sight, he or she is likely to suggest that you send your resume to HR. That tact will not help you get your foot in the door, and does not connect you one-on-one to a potential ally. So, be polite, but persistent.  Insist that you are gathering information, not expecting a specific opportunity as a result of our meeting, and push to talk to contacts in person. If your targeted contact is not interested, ask for a referral. (I appreciate that you are too busy to meet. Is there someone else in your department who might be able to speak with me?) The fact is, most people love to talk about themselves, and few of us have a willing audience for our stories! Ask yourself, if someone called you and   requested that you share your story and information about your organization (assuming you werent working with classified information), what would you say? I would bet that most of you would be willing to help. Stay tuned for information about what to ask once you land the meeting! If youre ready to hire someone to help you move ahead with your plans, contact me to find out how you can boost your job search both online and off line. Check out my new book, Social Networking for Career Success, to learn how to use Branchout and other social networking tools to your advantage! photo by BW Jones

Writing Outcomes - Using Examples to Describe Your Best Work

Writing Outcomes - Using Examples to Describe Your Best WorkWriting accomplishments is one of the most important parts of a job application, unless you have some special criteria to explain. If your reason for applying for a position is because you are a writer, then this is certainly part of the requirements. However, writing accomplishments is also an effective way to describe your personal and professional experience.Examples of this are often posted on your resume by your prospective employer, and they make it easy for your potential employer to see what kind of job you have done previously. So if you want to talk about your time as a programmer or your co-worker experiences, it can be easy to cite them in your resume. Some examples are:But beyond writing your experiences, a good example of accomplishments can be in how you are perceived by people who work in that same industry. For example, if you held a title of department manager at a company that manufactures magnetic ribbons , then it would help to show that you are part of a group that is hardworking and well-organized.Examples that sound generic are good examples of accomplishments to use. It doesn't matter whether you mention them in your actual resume. Just try to give examples of how you worked in the past in order to show your abilities.References also make great examples of how you show your ability in academics. It does not matter whether you are mentioning them in your resume or not. Just try to use examples that show that you are hard working and dedicated in academics.You may be able to find a few examples of accomplishments on previous job websites. They are excellent examples of accomplishments. You can also find examples of how you handled situations in your previous job and tell those examples in your resume.As you can see, writing accomplishments is very important, since they can clearly show what you can do for a company. A good example of an accomplishment to use in your resume can be in how you handle disagreements between you and your co-workers, and how you can work in a team.

The Ultimate Solution for How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume

The Ultimate Solution for How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume Getting the Best How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume The Career Objective offers you a chance to allow the hiring manager know that you've got the relevant skills and abilities they're searching for in a new hire. Very clear and descriptive, the qualifications summary is fantastic if you're applying for employment that asks for quite a particular set of skills. Chronological resumes are excellent for clearly displaying your work or educational history and they're a good selection for virtually any amount of experience. What Does How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume Mean? Your lists should incorporate the software platforms you may work in, the programming languages you are conversant with and the hardware platforms you are conversant with as well. With all these responsibilities, you may have a tough time creating a concise document. There are a couple of factors you have to think about. Getting the Best How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume A simple resume template is going to be your very best bet. In the end, you can consist of relevant links to internet resumes or professional sites. Employing short paragraphs, simple headers, and bulleted lists may give you the excess oomph you want to make an unforgettable resume. Now you have your format picked out, you must set your information in order. Whispered How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume Secrets If you wish to impress hiring managers, you must locate a way to make an informative, attractive document. A great resume format is simple to scan. You may want to skip the chronological format if you've worked in relatively similar positions for your whole career or held the exact same job for quite a long duration of time. There are three major introduction styles, all of them excellent in various circumstances. What You Need to Know About How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume An eye-c atching document also enables you to stick out from the competition. The info in your resume should paint a photo of the kind of employee you are and show employers what you're capable of accomplishing. Before you choose to submit an application for work, always make sure your CV is updated. It's fast and simple to use. A CV can be readily mistaken for a resume, however, there's a notable difference. Adding action verbs to your resume is an excellent way to strengthen it and help it become more targeted to the position you're applying to. Therefore, it could be beneficial to describe what a resume isn't. How to Get Started with How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume? It's also advisable to touch on the skills you possess, but you need to chat about how you're use them. For instance, hard skills may also go by technical abilities or industry-specific skills. You've got transferrable skills that you might not have tapped into. Job-specific skills vary dependent on th e position. The Ultimate How to Describe Writing a Manual on a Resume Trick Besides listing your abilities, you're likely going to should describe them. An extra skills section may also be added to the conclusion of your resume. Deciding what things to write in the expert experience section is frequently the most difficult component of the resume writing process. Writing the education and extra skills section is the exact same process for other reverse chronological resumes.