What's the Next Big Tool for Jobseekers...After LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is definitely the #1 took for jobseekers when it comes to connecting with your network to find leads, contacts, and opportunities … but it's not the first tool you can use in your job search, and it won't be the last.

An article in TechCrunch talks about a new tool that will help you analyze your existing connections to help you reach the people you want to know. It's called "Conspire," and it analyzes your email (Gmail, specifically) to help you connect to people you want to meet -- and, in particular, it helps you analyze the strength of the connection to the people you already know to make that introduction.

Read the TechCrunch article here:
Forget LinkedIn, Conspire Analyzes Email To Be Your Next Networking Tool

Right now, the app has the strongest successes within the tech community. When I tested it out, it helped me identify people I already knew, but wasn't as successful helping me reach people one connection out. Part of the challenge is that it only uses Gmail right now, and I don't use my Gmail email as much as I do my BeAResumeWriter.com and Resume Writers' Digest emails for work contacts.

For example, I tried Conspire to see how it would do with two of the career industry's top thought leaders. First, I tried Wendy Enelow:

Because I have corresponded with Wendy through my Gmail account (occasionally -- I usually correspond with her through my Resume Writer's Digest email), it found we had a direct connection, although it was weak.

Next, I tried Louise Kursmark … which, considering my connection with Wendy, I should have some sort of connection with her on Conspire:

Nope. Not only did it not connect me with Louise through Wendy, but it didn't show any connection with her at all. (I actually correspond with Louise through my Resume Writers' Digest email account).

So, it's not perfect yet, but it's definitely worth a try. It's another tool in the toolbox for jobseekers … but LinkedIn is still #1. Perhaps as the Conspire network grows, it will become more effective and powerful.

Check out Conspire here. It's free.

Keep LinkedIn From Sending Those "Say Congrats" Notifications To My Network

Got this question from a resume writer:

"Does anyone know how to keep "say congrats" from being sent to someone's network once they've changed jobs? Thank you in advance!! 

Because LinkedIn has several places to control your privacy settings and notifications, this one can be a bit tricky. But here's the answer:

On your LinkedIn profile, click "Edit Profile":

Click on the existing job you're editing in your Experience section (or Add a position). If updating a current position, click the "Edit" button:

After you've made your changes, look in the upper right-hand side of the page and check what settings you have for "Notify Your Network" --

If you do not want LinkedIn to notify your network of the update or addition (and you do NOT want a "Say Congrats" notification sent), make sure the line is RED and it says, "No, do not publish an update to my network about my profile changes."

Want more information? Check out this LinkedIn help page:
http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/78/~/showing-or-hiding-activity-updates-about-you

Want to learn more about LinkedIn?

Profile of an "Average" Resume Writer: 2012

Based on the information compiled from the 2012 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey, here is the profile of the “average” resume writer:

She (the majority of resume writers are female) is in her 50s, and has been writing resumes for 10 years as a self-employed resume writer. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and is a member of both the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) and the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA).

Our average resume writer works from home almost exclusively. She spends 25-30 hours a week writing, and another 15-20 hours a week on administrative and marketing activities. She writes 2-3 new resumes a week, and works on 1-2 updates weekly. Her average package — for which she charges $300 — includes a resume, cover letter, and references page.

Lately, she has added LinkedIn profile development to her service offerings, and she charges her existing resume clients an additional $129 for that. (She has just started getting serious about LinkedIn herself in the last 12 months, updating her own profile, joining a couple of LinkedIn Groups for resume writers, and attending a LinkedIn training webinar to learn more about how to use it.)

She collects payment upfront and uses a combination of a questionnaire followed by a brief phone consultation to gather information from the client.

Her biggest frustrations revolve around marketing her services (especially finding clients who are willing to pay the rates she is charging without too much push-back) and figuring out how Applicant Tracking Systems technology affects the resumes she writes.

As for income, she brings in gross revenues of $3,800-$4,600 each month, and she nets around $44,500 a year after taxes.

Information compiled/analyzed by Résumé Writers’ Digest/BeAResumeWriter.com

© 2013–2014 | Bridget (Weide) Brooks for Image Building Communications

http://www.rwdigest.com

http://www.bearesumewriter.com

Q&A: Will Jobseekers Be Thrown Off If They See This?

I occasionally share the answers to questions I'm asked. Today's is about BeAResumeWriter Pass-Along Materials.

QUESTION: 

I do have one minor concern -- I'm not sure if this is something you address in the (Turn Your Content Into Cash) training, but since your (Pass-Along Materials) are used by other resume writers, what if a client finds the same content from two different career websites? I'm just afraid of losing any kind of credibility if a client happens to find my materials that are the same from another resume writers' website or product...

My response:

With millions of jobseekers out there, the chances that they will see the same content on more than one site is low ... HOWEVER, you have control over what you do with the Pass-Along Materials to differentiate them.

At a minimum, I always recommend coming up with a different title for the content. (That's why I purposely name them boring names.)

Second, rewrite the content as much as you feel comfortable -- certainly the first two paragraphs.

Third, change the format! You can break up the PAMs into different formats -- excerpt into a short article or blog post, record as audio or video, make into a checklist/tip guide, or use as social media content.

You'd be amazed -- do ANY ONE of those things and it will become almost unrecognizable. (I'll be reading along a colleague's blog post and think "hmm, that sounds familiar," but it isn't unless I do a search of the PAM that I realize it was actually content I wrote!

There are more than 4,000 resume writers worldwide, and most of the PAM packages have been purchased by fewer than 250 resume writers, so the chances of the same content being seen by the same jobseeker is very low. And I would hate for you to keep from sharing information with jobseekers because you're afraid that they will see the same information somewhere else. The better chance is that they need the information but aren't getting it from anywhere.

If you're still concerned about it, rather than NOT doing something with it, you can feel free to put *my* name on it and a statement that the information is provided by "Resume Writers' Digest, a trade newsletter for professional resume writers" and then put "edited by (Your Name).

But you can really put your own name on it, especially if you use one of the three "transformation" strategies listed above.