Using TweetChat to Help You Monitor Career-Related Twitter Chats

In this week's YOUnique newsletter (the newsletter of Reach Personal Branding), Kristen Jacoway offers tips on "How Twitter Can Help Your Job Hunt." (Sept. 22, 2011, Issue 60).

One tool she didn't mention -- but that I find helpful when engaging in a chat on Twitter, is TweetChat. TweetChat allows you to monitor the chat in real time without being distracted by the other tweets on Twitter. It creates a "virtual room" for tweets using the hashtag (like #CareerChat) you have selected to follow. (Note: You will sign in with your Twitter account and click "allow" to enable access to your account. This will allow you to post your comments on the chat just the same as if you were posting from Twitter directly.)

(On the TweetChat home page, you put the hashtag you want to follow in the box right at the top there -- between where it says "TweetChat"  and "Go." It can be a little hard to find the first time around, so I thought I'd point that out.)

Here are a couple of chats Kristen highlighted in her article:

• #JobHuntChat – Every Monday from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. ET. This chat is for a community where job seekers, career coaches, recruiters, human resource professionals, and hiring managers come together. Each week, #JobHuntChat focuses on 6 questions from job seekers and then practicing industry experts offer solutions.
• #CareerChat – Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. ET
• #InternChat – Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. ET
• #GenYChat – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET
• #HFChat – Fridays at 12:00 p.m. ET. HFChart is a part of HireFriday – movement where job seekers are marketed instead of job openings.
• #Linkedinchat – Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. CT. Linkedinchat covers topics about LinkedIn and leverages this social media platform.

You can find a list of regularly-scheduled Twitter chats (not just careers industry-related), at this link:
http://bit.ly/chatsched

You can sign up for a subscription to the YOUnique newsletter here.

Career Directors International Announces 2011 TORI Nominees

Each year, CDI hosts a resume writing competition for the Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) award.

Winner announcements will take place at CDI's award ceremony at the 2011 Career Empowerment Summit this October.

Here are the 2011 TORI Nominees, in no particular order:

Best International Resume
Barbara Safani, Career Solvers
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Sandra Ingemansen, Resume Strategies
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions

Best New Graduate Resume

Ginger Korljan, Take Charge Coaching
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering

Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions

Best Creative Resume
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering
Michelle Riklan, Riklan Resources
Tina Nicolai, Resume Writers' Ink, LLC®
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Brenda Bernstein, The Essay Expert LLC

Best LinkedIn Profile
Karen Siwak, Resume Confidential
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions
Melanie Lenci, Resume Relief
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue

Best Technical Resume
Leeza Byers, Byers Workforce Solutions
Alexander Kofman, Resume Pros for Less
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Jennifer Hay, IT Resume Service
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com

Best Executive Resume
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Holly S. Reslink, EmpowerLink, LLC
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions
Michael Kranes, Resume Slayer

Best Sales and Marketing Resume
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering
Gayle Howard, Top Margin Career Marketing
Sharon Williams, JobRockit
Victoria McLean, City CV Ltd.
Sandra Ingemansen, Resume Strategies

Best Military Conversion Resume
Lee Kelley, CareerPro Global, Inc.
Jennifer Rushton, Keraijen
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Nancy Segal, Solutions for the Workplace, LLC
Joseph L. Tatner, CareerPro Global, Inc.
Fran Sheridan, CareerPro Global, Inc.

Best Cover Letter
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Gayle Howard, Top Margin Career Marketing
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering

Robin Schlinger, of Robin's Resumes, coordinated the TORI awards this year.

Judges included:
Barb Poole, Hire Imagine, LLC
Darlene Dassy, Dynamic Resume Solutions
Laura Labovich, Aspire! Empower! Career Strategy Group
August Cohen, Get Hired StayHired, LLC
Annemarie Cross, Advanced Employment Concepts
Jill Kelly, Career Edge
Susan Guarneri, AssessmentGoddess.com 

Handwritten Notes Can Help Your Clients Build Their Networks

Marketing expert David Frey shared the following story of how George Bush Sr. become president -- winning the ultimate job.

It's said that every person that George met, he kept in touch with.

It didn't matter whether it was interns, politicians, business people, or clergy, he and Barbara Bush would make sure they stay in touch.

The way he did that was with simple greeting cards and personal notes.

(This isn't a political story -- it's a networking story. Read on.)
______________________________

Handwritten Notes are King!
______________________________

Here's quotes and excerpts from six different, well-known professional business experts about the power of handwritten notes.
_________

1. “Short handwritten cards yield long results. In sales, never underestimate the importance of the personal gesture, and right at the top of the list of effective personal gestures sits the handwritten card.

Always send memorable cards and personal notes when you are reminded of a person.”

HARVEY MACKAY, Author of "Swim with the Sharks Without Getting Eaten"

__________

2. "Because I understood that building relationships is what selling is all about, I began early in my career to send thank you cards to people. I set a goal to send 10 thank you cards every day.

Guess what happened? By the end of my third year in sales, my business was 100% referrals!”

TOM HOPKINS, Auhor of "How to Master the Art of Selling"

___________

3. "Sending cards is one of the most powerful tools in building a huge network, both professionally and socially.

People with the most impressive networks are typically avid card writers.

It's one of the best techniques for long-term winning without intimidation. I suggest getting into the habit of immediately sending out cards."

BOB BURG, Author of "Endless Referrals"

_____________

4. "Write customers personal, handwritten cards frequently. If you run into an old customer anywhere, follow up with a handwritten card.

In this electronic communication age of email, the handwritten card with a postage
stamp gets more immediate attention than ever.”

DANIELLE KENNEDY, Author of Seven Figure Selling

_____________

5. Welch sent handwritten notes to anyone in the company who he felt deserved personal communication, whether to motivate, correct, or congratulate, from top management to laborers.

Much has been said in business books and magazine articles about Jack Welch's habit of sending handwritten notes to his GE subordinates.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show said, "Jack is a master of the hand-written note.

JACK WELCH, Former CEO of General Electric

_____________

6. Joe Girard, the world’s greatest salesman -- listed in the Guinness Book of World Records -- sent over 16,000 handwritten greeting cards to past customers and clients every month.

As a result of that effort, Joe became the #1 car salesperson in the entire world for 12 years straight. Nearly every one of his sales came from referrals.

JOE GIRARD, Author of "How to Sell Anything To Anyone"

_______________

7. "I cannot overemphasize the value of the handwritten thank you note. I believe it’s more important than ever, because so few people do it anymore."

SHELLEY KAEHR, Ph.D. Author of Sales 101: Simple Solutions for Sales Success

__________________________

Are You Convinced Yet??
_________________________

If you're not sending out handwritten notes, then you're really missing the boat.

I personally write between 2-6 handwritten notes a day to people.

That one small practice has changed my life and the lives of many others.

Writing notes endears you to people and sets you apart as someone who truly cares about others.

With all the competition out there in today's business world, the one thing that can set you apart is the small, kind, thoughtful things you do for people.

And writing notes is the fasest, easiest, and most effective way to reach out and touch people.

Now that you're convinced that you should be sending out handwritten notes and cards, David recommends this solution to help you keep in touch:http://www.ILovetoSendOutCards.com
David Frey is the CEO of MarketingBestPractices.com and the author of the Small Business Marketing Bible.

Using PR Techniques to Get Your Clients Interviews and Get Hired

Jessica and Meryl

When I saw this article on "Using PR Techniques Can Get You Hired, Promoted" in the Atlanta Business News, it immediately caught my attention.

I've often said that there is no "degree" in resume writing -- careers industry professionals come from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. My personal background is in journalism/public relations, and I've often used these techniques in helping my clients with their resumes ... and to get interviews.

A couple of specific techniques from PR are important:

• The message is the most important. When providing interview training, I remind clients that it's up to you to communicate your message. The interviewer may have his or her own agenda for the interview -- and it may not align with the message you want to communicate. If you can pick 2-3 key messaging topics for yourself, you'll be able to stay on track in the interview.
• Use the "inverted pyramid" style of writing in the resume and cover letter. When writing a news article, you start with the most important information at the top, with the least important successively as you go down the page. In newspaper copyediting, this helps the editor trim from the bottom up, when space is an issue. The same is true with the resume.
• Have a theme or story. The use of storytelling principles continues to grow in the resume writing field -- because it's important to stand out. The same is true with newspaper writing. Personal interest profiles are written very differently than straight news stories. You'll see this reflected in resumes too -- and it can be the difference between an "obituary" resume versus an interview-winning resume.

If you are interested in this subject, check out "Be Your Own Best Publicist" (Career Press, January 2011) by PR pros Jessica Kleiman and Meryl Weinsaft Cooper.