New Twist for Job-Seeking Clients: Social Media Background Check

Every once in a while, I'd have a client who was having success getting interviews (even second interviews), but wasn't getting the job. After investigating to see if the problem was how he or she interviewed, sometimes it was clear that something was sabotaging the process between the interview and the offer ... and sometimes that was a bad reference.

Usually, the way we found out about this was to use a reference-checking service. The client would engage the firm, and the firm would call the client's references and pretend to be a prospective employer verifying information. 

The results were sometimes shocking -- the former boss who promised a great recommendation started out by praising my client, but made several backhanded comments that would put doubts in the mind of any prospective employer. Almost as bad were references who had promised to vouch for the candidate, but when asked, wouldn't give information beyond "name, rank, and serial number" (understandable if the company policy prohibited providing more than that information ... but telling the former employee one thing and then doing another isn't helpful...).

Now, our clients have to be concerned about social media background checks. Now, any resume writer worth his or her salt tells their clients "What happens on the Internet DOES NOT stay on the Internet" -- but every day on Facebook, I still see things that make me cringe. 

Even if you have your privacy settings locked down, the background checks will still find stuff... you're probably not as protected as you think you are.

For an introduction to the social media background check, read this article on Gizmodo. It's eye-opening stuff ... but with some good hints to pass along to our clients.

First of all, the author notes that these checks screen for just a handful of things: aggressive or violent acts or assertions, unlawful activity, discriminatory activity (for example, making racist statements), and sexually explicit activity.

But more importantly, he notes how candidates can minimize the digital dirt that is unearthed about them:

It only uses the data an employer gives it to run a search. This tends to be standard issue information from your resume. Your name, your university, your email address and physical location. Which means that, ultimately, you are the one supplying all the data for a background check. Because you are the one who supplies that data to your employer. And that means you should be smart about what kinds of contact information you put on your resume.

Great advice -- including the suggestion that most of us give to clients already -- to start a fresh e-mail address that they use for their job search only. Just another thing to think about when giving clients advice about online reputation management.

Creative Resumes: Do They (Get) Work?

Every once in a while, I come across an article like this one: "13 Insanely Cool Resumes That Landed Interviews at Google and Other Top Jobs."

The premise is out-of-the box resume designs -- printed on unique paper, designed to look like a movie poster (or Facebook page, or Google search results page), featuring a QR code instead of text, etc. -- that is unconventional and landed the job. We get it -- you need to set yourself apart.

It's cute. But the article glosses over the reminder that these types of resumes work best when the "normal" job search principles apply:

• Content is still king. Put it in a pretty package, but if you don't have anything to say, you'll get an interview, because they're curious about the person behind the package, but ...
• You must have the qualifications to get the job. All of the resumes purportedly got an interview -- it doesn't say if any of them actually landed the job. (In fact, the "Google guy" got the interview, but not the job.)
• Creative resumes work for creative fields. Out-of-the-box formats don't work for all industries. None of the samples listed were for an accounting firm or manufacturing company, for example. Which brings me to...
• Size matters. That is, the size of the company you're targeting. Creative resumes are more likely to win interviews in smaller, especially entrepreneurial companies ... where risk is rewarded. They're also more likely to get to the desk of the decision-maker in a small company. As the job seeker behind sample number #5 pointed out, "HR people don't always respond well to this."
• Don't make the employer do more work than necessary. A QR code is trendy, but if the hiring manager or company owner doesn't have the software (mobile phone app, usually) to access the code, the resume will be passed over. (As resume writers, we tell our clients the same thing with regard to boring things like .docx formats, so it's not just cool stuff that can derail your path to an interview ... it can also be boring Microsoft Word software versions...)
• The federal government still is involved. With more and more recruiters and hiring managers Googling prospective hires, and candidates providing video segments and links to online profiles which feature photos, the lines are getting fuzzier about not using traits such as personal appearance to influence the resume screening process, since factors such as race, color, religion, sex, age, ethnic/national origin, disability, or veteran status cannot influence employment decisions.
• It's about form and function. Rick Mundon, the man behind Orange Resume, "a website that designs creative resumes, business, and websites for job hunters" (it's the graphic of his sample resumes that's featured above) does make the point that "employers need to pick (the resume) up and know how to find your past work experience." Not all creative resumes "get" this.
• Graphic design candidates can get away with a lot. See earlier comment about "creative resumes for creative fields." 'Nuff said.

As resume writers, we've probably all developed some creative resumes for our clients at one time or another (I can specifically recall one for a photographer and a couple for elementary school teachers that were out-of-the-norm and landed interviews), but the basic principles of a resume still apply. You must target the reader and demonstrate why this candidate deserves the interview ... and the job. The rest is .... well, window dressing.

Early Registration Deadline Approaching for CDI Summit

Don't forget the early registration deadline is approaching for the Career Directors International Global Career Empowerment Summit 2011 in Savannah, Georgia this October.

The deadline is Friday, July 1. Registration costs as little as $529 (three-pay options are also available).

I really enjoyed Savannah when I was out there for the NRWA conference a few years ago. We (I brought my husband and his parents with me!) flew into Jacksonville, Florida to save money (it was only about an hour or hour-and-a-half drive up) and we spent an afternoon at Hilton Head Island on the beach too.

Beautiful!

Don't know if I'll be able to make it yet, but I definitely recommend going if you can!

Selling Ebooks and Workbooks on Clickbank

I've delivered a couple of teleseminars and written some articles on affiliate marketing in the past, but I haven't specifically addressed selling your information products (workbooks, ebooks, job search guides) on Clickbank before.

Clickbank.com has paid out nearly $2 Billion to those selling information products online in the last 10 years – and that number is growing fast. Yet, for a lot of marketers, Clickbank has a bad rap. I’d like to spend the next two minutes showing you why you absolutely should sell your ebook on Clickbank.

Who does this blog post apply to?
* If you’re currently selling your product with a simple paypal button, consider switching to Clickbank.
* If you have a shopping cart (like 1ShoppingCart.com) that you’re using to sell your products, consider also setting up a separate page or URL where you sell your product on Clickbank.

* If you're using another online sales system (like Payloadz), consider switching to Clickbank, or selling your products on Clickbank in addition to your other online sales system.

Here’s why…

Diversification of Your PaymentsYou may not be aware of this, but PayPal.com has been known to “freeze” accounts while looking into them after they’ve been flagged by one of their employees. While Paypal.com is a trusted company, they do have to watch out for their own interests. So, if this happens to you, your account will not be accessible during that time. That means you can’t withdraw money, you can’t pay affiliates, and you can’t process refunds. You’re stuck. I don’t know about you, but I have bills to pay – which is why I recommend that you also sell products via a secondary payment method like Clickbank. They pay via direct deposit into your checking account every two weeks, like clockwork. If, heaven forbid, your account gets flagged by Paypal, you’ll be able to pay your mortgage while getting it cleared.

Less Book-KeepingWith Clickbank, you get paid weekly or when you reach a certain dollar amount that you’ve set. That means that you can pay less in accounting fees – because you’ll have a maximum of FOUR transactions per month, assuming you’re getting paid weekly. Compare that to using a PayPal button or shopping cart – where every single transaction has to be entered by your bookkeeper – and you can see the advantage.

100,000 + Sales ForceYes, Clickbank has the eye of over 100,000 registered affiliate niche marketers in 145 countries. Many of these affiliate search the Clickbank marketplace first when looking for products to promote. If you’re not listed there, they can’t find you. Having affiliates who will promote your product for you is a great way to increase your sales. And there are tons of folks who are looking for job search-related products to promote on their blogs and websites.

Clickbank’s HopAds ProgramYou may be familiar with Google Adsense, but, did you know that Clickbank also has an advertising program? As a vendor, you can create Ads that automatically show on affiliate websites – based upon keywords. So, if your ebook is about “Finding a Job Faster” and someone with a job board website site puts the HopAd on their site with keywords “job search” or “job interview” – your ad may display in rotation with the other ads – as long as that ad is live on their site.

Hands-Off Affiliate ManagementIf you’re using your own shopping cart like 1ShoppingCart.com, then you have to manage your affiliates or hire someone to do so. While this is definitely a profitable thing to do, some tasks can be a nuisance, like collecting W-9 forms (if you’re in the United States) for taxes. If you sell through Clickbank, that’s not an issue. They handle it for you.

Affiliate Payment Safety CushionIf you’re selling your products through your own shopping cart, then every month, you have to make sure to keep a “cushion” in your PayPal account so that you have enough money to pay them. That’s not an issue with Clickbank. You ONLY receive your profits after affiliates have been paid. And, Clickbank handles paying them for you. You’re totally out of the loop.

There you have it. Six reasons why you should consider putting your ebook on Clickbank for sale.

If you're interested in learning more about selling your job search-related product on Clickbook, I recommend “15 Quick & Easy Steps to Getting your Ebook on Clickbank” by Nicole Dean.

It’s a special report where Nicole Dean, Internet marketer, affiliate manager and work-at-home Mom, gives you the 15 steps you need to follow to get your product up on Clickbank, ready to take orders!

“How to Get Your First Infoproduct on Clickbank” is more than a special report.

You’ll also get:

• Video demonstrations, so you can watch actual demonstrations of how to do the techie stuff 
• Templates for sales pages and thank you/download pages, where you just type in the details of your product, add your links, and then upload the pages to your site 
• Advice on tools you may want to use to make Clickbank work even better for you 

The sooner you get and implement this report, the sooner your product will be out there, making sales for you! Learn more here.