Archive for November, 2009

Get a handle on your digital footprint

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

I was talking to an experienced Marketing Director last week and suggested that she should make sure her LinkedIn profile was up-to-date and that she had some top-level references on there.

To my surprise, she said that she had chosen not to use networking sites anymore. I asked why and she offered some interesting thought-provoking views. Whilst on the one hand it’s a useful tool to build your contact base, she said that a lot of profiles and contacts were self serving and contrived.

Why wouldn’t your contacts be self serving? Isn’t that the point? Well not entirely… contacts should be nurtured and respected and built up over time. She had noticed, whilst recruiting for her own team, that she had seen a lot of endorsements to and from contacts that were completely far fetched.

This has led to an “I’ll scratch your back if…” culture in endorsement giving! Of course I’d like to think that not all endorsements are fictitious or truth-stretching however this emphasises the need to make sure your references are from trusted, respected and reputable peers… and if you can get some C-level references from clients then all the better.

In other words, if you are going to use networking sites, make sure you don’t dilute the effectiveness of your good endorsements with fluffy ones.

The same care and attention should be put into all of your digital footprints, as you would your CV. Don’t overcrowd and fill your profile or CV with non-descript information that could hide key experience or achievements that make you unique.

Caroline wanted to have full control over her digital footprint and limit any preconceived ideas or prejudices before the process has even begun.

If you’re not going to use online networks such as this, make sure you don’t have a half-baked profile on there, this could send out the wrong message. And if you are then make sure you have an up-to-date, clear and concise profile that has effective endorsements. The positives will outweigh the negatives, if you ensure the content is targeted… call it quality control!

Have a productive week…

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CBI sees an improvement in the market

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

During a consult, executives frequently ask me how the job market is faring.

Recruiter confidence can often be intangible and difficult to measure however I came across a survey conducted by the CBI and Harvey Nash recently which has some interesting findings.

The survey not only covers recruitment trends over the last year but it also covers an important stage in the return to confidence; employers HR practices and the perception of their staff. Generally, for there to be a shift in behaviour towards external hiring there must be a shift in behaviour towards their own employees first. Feel free to take a look here but it appears to point to a swing in attitude in comparison to the beginning of the year.

We have also noticed an improvement, albeit gradual. executive-i.com have access to a real-time tangible that acts as an effective barometer to measure the market… jobs.

Our research team continually scours the market to identify relevant executive opportunities for executives – when comparing the amount of adverts identified in the last month to like for like figures for the same period in 2008, there is a 25.3% increase in opportunities. This is up from a 13.2% increase for the previous month.

Of course it’s too early to be sure of a sustained increase in recruiter confidence, and the market is still extremely competitive, but there are encouraging signs nonetheless.

Have a good week

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Not another blog…

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

When it dawned on me that I was about to write a blog… that I actually had to put text to screen… my mind went blank.

This didn’t bode well for my (prospective) readers I thought; what could I possibly write that would interest people. I’ve probably already lost you…

But then I thought it’s not just about creating interesting content, having outlandish thought provoking views. The main aim of this blog (and my job description for that matter) is to help people secure their next position, and if I can make it interesting then that’s a bonus.

So I got to work on researching other career blogs that focus on careers, with the aim of creating my own angle to offer advice in a unique way.

It turns out there’s not a lot of inspiration in the internet ether when it comes to career advice. A lot of commentators offer the same basic advice. Now I’m not knocking this as “5 tips on writing an effective cover letter” and “10 tips on the perfect CV” offer useful basics.

However, it is imperative to develop a unique approach to marketing your career, after all employers (in the main) want to recruit a unique individual and not a clone.

Therefore our aim will reflect yours, to offer unique advice and opinion to help you to stand out from the crowd and blow away the competition.

We’ll also have comment from leading industry practitioners to keep it fresh and add some different perspectives.

Have a great week…

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