NRWA Conference Preview

Yesterday, I was on a free teleseminar call sponsored by the National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA), previewing their upcoming conference in September in Portland, Maine. While I'm unable to attend due to family commitments, I was interested in hearing what was planned -- and I'd like to share a couple of the highlights with you.

(You can listen to the call recording here).

The call was facilitated by Kathy Sweeney and featured several of the conference speakers, including Barbara Safani, Kimberly Schneiderman, and Norine Dagliano.

On Friday, Sept. 23, Barbara will present on "Social Media in Job Search: No Longer Optional."

• "A resume isn't enough anymore," she says.
• Social media profiles allow candidates to better compete.
• Resume writers have a great opportunity to educate clients on what else is out there (in terms of social media profiles and tools) besides LinkedIn.
• This session is important because "resume writers need to keep up with the times."

On Thursday, Sept. 22, in one of the concurrent breakout sessions, Kimberly Schneiderman will present "Boiling It Down: Marketing Your Most Accomplished Client Through a One-Page Document."

• These one-page documents won't replace the resume, but are an additional tool.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, Norine Dagliano will talk about "Same Client - Different Story: Tools and Strategies for Crafting Career-Change Resumes."

• She's had numerous clients coming to her with the challenge that "what they had done, they may not be able to do anymore."
• Traditional resume formats don't work for career changers.

Finally, Kathy Sweeney talked about the presentation she'll give on Friday, Sept. 23 on "Trademarks and Copyrights 101: How to Protect Your Business Name, Logo, and Intellectual Property." On the preview call, Kathy talked about how she's had her website content copied, her articles stolen, and her business name used by other people. She also talked about how she had unintentionally used the name of another business (despite conducting a trademark search). After she had invested time and money in creating a website, blog, and radio show, she received a cease-and-desist letter from another careers industry professional who, she soon discovered, owned that brand. She immediately changed the consortium name, but had to re-record 12 radio shows with the new name.

Sweeney said her talk will help resume writers:

• Protect your business
• Protect your reputation
• Protect your intellectual property
• Make sure you're not infringing on someone else (even accidentally).

For more information about the NRWA Conference, or to register, visit the NRWA website.

A two-pay conference registration option is available for one more week.

Career Management Alliance Is No More

Kennedy Information (publishers of the "Directory of Executive Recruiters") has chosen to discontinue the Career Management Alliance (CMA) association (formerly Career Masters Institute), originally founded by Wendy Enelow in 1999. Wendy has now regained ownership of the two certification credentials that originated out of the organization -- the Master Resume Writer (MRW) and Credentialed Career Master (CCM) designations. If you have questions about these credentials -- or are interested in pursuing these certifications, contact Wendy.

The Role of Workforce Development Going Forward

I live in Nebraska and our neighboring state, Iowa, is caught up in a controversy about a plan to close 36 Workforce Development offices in the state.

The fundamental question about how to serve job seekers is one that resume writers have been contemplating for several years. The Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey throughout the years demonstrated the shift from office-based resume writers to more and more resume writers working from home. (In the 2010 survey, 76 percent of writers who responded work from a home office only, while 12 percent have both a home and business office.)

The governor's decision to close the offices in favor of creating "access points" -- special software installed on workstations at sites across the state, combined with online chat and a toll-free number -- is drawing criticism as reducing access to services.

But in reality, how many individuals visit Workforce Development offices in person -- unless they have to? Certainly the white collar, professional, and executive unemployed would be bothered less than blue collar workers, seniors, and the technologically challenged. But adding access points in public libraries, for example, would allow for hands-on support (and potentially some additional usage and funds for the libraries in exchange for hosting the access point).

Fundamentally, it's important to look at the nature of how Workforce Development can support the job search. Is their role to help clients find jobs, or to provide them with computer services? Already, many Workforce Development offices are moving more of their resources online -- hosting job boards on their sites, giving jobseekers access to resume building software, and providing support to employers through online portals.

The future of the support system needs to be re-evaluated in light of how the job search has changed through the years. Prospective employees -- even those in blue collar jobs -- are expected to be able to have basic technological proficiency. Effective job search strategies require company research and networking -- but existing Workforce Development services have focused on online job postings (probably in response to earlier rounds of job reductions and funding cuts within the Workforce Development system). It may require a re-imagination of the entire support system to meet the needs of jobseekers, employers, and those funding the services.

Closing offices may be the impetus that spurs on this revitalization of the existing system.

What are your thoughts?

Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Resume Writers: Part 5

This is the fifth and final post in a series of posts on "Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Resume Writers." Previous posts in the series addressed the What and Why of SEO, Keyword Research, SEO Basics, and Setting Up Google Places. These posts are excerpted from the "Resume Writers Online Marketing Guidebook."

This post is all about "Google Places Best Practices."

Since you now have your business claimed and verified on Google Places, we can look at some techniques to make sure you use your listing properly. First off, Google Places isn’t really a service you “use” per se. It isn’t like Facebook Places in that regards. When I say “use,” I really mean how you should set it up to get the most advantage from the search engines. Essentially these best practices are steps to take to ensure your listing shows up above other businesses.

Google Places ranking depends on a number of items, including (but not limited to):

1.        Claiming Your Business — I will assume you did this in the last step, but if you didn’t, here is a good incentive to do it. Claiming your business is one way to raise it in the Google rankings. Generally speaking, claimed businesses show up before unclaimed ones.

2.        Choose City Center Locations — If your resume writing business has multiple locations (for example, a home office and a business office), list the one that is closest to the heart of the city. While it might be impossible for you to control, Google does lend weight to a businesses proximity to the city center.

3.        Categorize Properly — You can choose a number of categories for your business, and I suggest using as many categories as possible. The catch is they have to be legitimate categories. Don’t reach too far for categories, because if they aren’t related to your business, Google could penalize you by ranking your site lower in Places.

4.        Fill Out Your Profile — Fill out as much info in the profile as you can. Include payment types, hours, and other information — like parking, for example. Google definitely prefers profiles to be more filled out, because it means more value for their users.

5.        Add Images — Google gives you 10 spots for images, and I suggest using every spot. This will not only make your business listing look better, it will contribute to the “fullness” of your profile. You should have your business logo and your photo, at a minimum. You might also have a photo of the outside of your office (if you work from a commercial location). You can also include logos for professional organization affiliations (PARW, NRWA, CMA, CDI logos, for example) as well as for résumé certifications (ACRW, CPRW, NCRW, CRW, etc.).

6.        Reviews — People can review your business right on Google Places, so encourage some of your favorite customers to write you a review. It will look great on your profile, and help your listing show up at the top. Google Places also looks at review sites on the web. If applicable, make sure your business is reviewed on sites like Yelp.

Google Places is only gaining in popularity. Tapping into it today and optimizing your listing with the tips above will ensure your business has a prominent place on it.

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You can download the entire five-part series as a special report excerpt. It's just one small part of the "Resume Writers Online Marketing Guidebook." Purchase the 42-page special report for just $14 and receive two bonus special reports for free: "How to Add a Facebook 'Like' Box on Any Page" and "How to Use Facebook Ads In Your Resume Writing Business."