Generosity – That’s your Currency!

Lately, I’ve been planning 2011. One of the things I have decided to do is more marketing and branding. Today, that typically means having a social media presence and blogging. This is my 4^th straight week writing, which is pretty good since I have blogged about once every 3 months for the previous three years. Then I wonder why I have no followers. J At first I had no idea what to write about this week, then after a rather positive networking call I was writing a thank you email to the person who made the connection for me, Fred Klein. I had referred to his introduction as being generous.

I first heard the term generosity used this way by Keith Ferrazi, in his book Who’s Got Your Back? In the book, Keith teaches how to build what he calls “life line relationships” and explains that the currency in these relationships is generosity. This is very similar to the motto of the networking group I belong to, Gotham City networking. The aforementioned Fred Klein happens to be the co-founder. The motto of Gotham is that it is better to give than to receive.

Give what, you may ask. Give whatever you can, and that doesn’t mean that you need to share your rolodex with everyone you meet or donate whatever is in your pocket for every cause. Being generous means getting to know what’s important to people, how you could help them, and offering whatever you can to help make that a reality. Maybe you tell someone about a website, or refer them to a person or service that you know of which could help them. There’s just so much more to a relationship or networking than referrals and asking for referrals; it’s about helping one another grow. The more generous you are, the more you’ll help others, and they’ll be inclined to help you. To learn more about building lifeline relationships pick up Keith’s book. If you are interested in learning more about Gotham City networking you could check them out at www.gothamnetworking.com and/or write me.

Dave Jacks' 7 Step Guide to Finding a Job

Dave Jacks’ 7-step guide to finding a job

Most of you know me and know I’m a recruiter and that I try to get out and attend networking events as much as possible. Often people ask what do you do and as soon as I say “I’m a recruiter,” they explain that they or someone close to them needs a job. They probe a bit and I explain the areas we focus in and encourage them to send me their resume regardless of whether their in an area we focus in and remind them that we’re a small company to try to temper their expectations. I then usually suggest that the person follow-up with me so I could give suggestions on how to go about their job search. Typically, I never hear from them again or if I do it’s because they email me their resume and then never have time to talk unless I have a job for them. Though there are some that have taken my advice and have succeeded in landed jobs so I’ve decided to share it with as many people as possible.

Step 1: Set-up a Facebook account! You already have one; great, you are one step ahead of the game. What’s that, your too old or too cool – get over it, it’s 2010 and there are new ways of networking that could help you grow professionally and keep in touch with friends and family.

Step 2: Set-up a LinkedIn account! You have that too – amazing!

Step 3: Invite all Facebook connections to LinkedIn. Trust me; you’ll see where I’m going with this.

Step 4: go to www.indeed.com . Indeed is a job aggregator – that is a site that pulls data from other similar sites. In other words any posting from any major job board, i.e. Monster, Dice, The Ladders, etc. or any major company such as IBM or Google will appear on indeed.

Step 5: Save your search as an agent on Indeed. Do a search for a job based on your skills or title (or do 2 separate ones) and then save them as an agent. When a new job is posting that meets your criteria you’ll get an email.

Step 6: When you see a job you are interested in posted by a company or a (lazy) recruiter that mistakenly mentioned the client name in a post look up the company on LinkedIn. LinkedIn will then pull up all your contacts at that company. Connect directly or via introduction to someone at that company and see if you could get them to be your internal advocate and submit your resume internally.

Step 7: Still no job…don’t fret…network and learn. Grow your network on LinkedIn and Facebook. Search your schools alumni, go through your old business cards, and attend networking events. Seek out experts in networking and job searches such as Keith Ferrazzi and Jim Stroud. You can download Keith’s guide to landing your dream job at his website www.keithferrazzi.com . Jim Stroud’s website is www.jimstroud.com . Lastly, think about joining a professional networking organization such as Gotham; which could be found at www.gothamnetworking.com . I belong to Gotham and you could attend an event as a guest of mine – all I ask is that you reach out to me first and/or mention me when you contact the group administrator of the event or group you are interested in.

Notes: Career coaches and Posting your resume.

I believe career coaches are a great resource although they could be expensive. If you are currently employed and looking how to leverage your existing experience to get a higher level job at your current employer or get a job elsewhere they could be helpful. If you are unemployed I suggest you hold onto your money or see if they will take some payment up-front and the balance when you land a new job. Lastly, consider seeing a younger person who just became credentialed or is training to become certified – chances are they’ll be helpful and much cheaper or even free.

As far as posting your resume on Monster or some other job board there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t overdo it. That is if your resume has been live on a job board for 3 or more months take it down. The reason is that chances are the employer or recruiter most likely to hire or place you has already downloaded your resume. Recruiters (internally and externally) get desensitized to resumes they’ve seen countless times and start ignoring them after a while. Take a 6 month break and then re-post if you’re still looking and want to post your resume.

Good Luck!

Sincerely,

Dave Jacks