Cincy Recruiter's World

6 Tips For Developing "Executive Presence"

This week, I'm attending the SHRM Annual Conference in New Orleans (read about my first day on RecruitingConferences.com) and this afternoon, I attended one of the Mega Sessions led by Author and Communications Expert Dianna Booher titled "Creating Executive Presence: Communicate with Confidence in the C-Suite". As an Executive Coach working with leaders to improve their skills and grow in their careers, it's not uncommon for me to work with an otherwise successful leader who just doesn't have the charisma or "It Factor" some are blessed with that naturally compels people to follow them. Thankfully, all hope is not lost and Ms. Booher's session provided some great tips about how changing some of the physical aspects of one's delivery style can make an immediate and noticeable difference in communicating with confidence, style and substance.

To demonstrate her point, two members of the audience were invited up onto the stage to give a 60 second presentation about a project they were currently working on to the audience of several hundred. Following their short speech, Ms. Booher would take each person to the side of the stage and provide just 30 seconds of coaching, then they would be asked to deliver their presentation once again using the tips she provided. 

The first brave volunteer walked up to the stage with confidence, but once she faced the crowd and began to speak, seemed to sink into the back of the stage and spoke very softly. When her time was up and the brief coaching was provided, she tried again. This time she looked out into the crowd, walked to the front of the stage and shared her project once again. When asked for feedback on the difference in the two presentations, audience members commented that the speaker was perceived as more confident, strong, engaging - and even "more beautiful". (Huh? Not sure about that one.) The second volunteer shared a brief story about the need to get in better physical shape in order to begin playing tennis with his college age son, so they could spend more time together. While sharing his story, he was casual, smiled and stood right in the center of the stage looking out across the room at the entire audience. He seemed comfortable enough, but after 30 seconds of coaching, he walked strongly to the left of the stage and spoke about his challenge, moved to the right and shared his plan to succeed and also sprinkled in a few bits of humor during his delivery that engaged the audience in his story. Once again, the feedback from the audience was that his second presentation was strong, confident, funny and focused. Unfortunately for him, no comments about his physical appearance, but we definitely liked him.

So what were some of the secrets shared with the audience volunteers in 30 seconds of coaching that made such a difference? Booher's tips included:

• Use random, sustained eye contact with several members of the audience. Focus on a few people here and there while speaking. "If you're looking at everyone in the room - you're looking at no one in the room".
• Make sure that your body language is strong and confident in order to project that with your tone - because your voice always follows your body language.
• Before you start to speak, stand up and stand still for 5 seconds. Doing so will make you look very much in control.
• When addressing a large group from a stage - walk out: stand still for 5 seconds, then start speaking by making eye contact with one person in the far corner of the group to the left, and then one person in the far corner of the room to the right.
• Gesture from the shoulder rather than from the elbow or the wrist because these types of moves make you look more powerful.
• Use your space purposely. Stand still. Make a point. Move as you transition to the next point. Then stand still, make point, move, etc.

Based on the impromptu demonstrations shared in the session today, it was easy to see how implementing these tips into your speaking style can make a difference in how you're perceived by the audience. The really good news is that you're not out of luck if you're not born with "executive presence". Like most things, with intention and practice, it can be developed!

Look Mom! I'm Going to the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference!

Next week I'll be in New Orleans attending the SHRM Annual Conference June 28 through July 1st - and you'll be glad to know that I've already stocked up on anti-frizz products in an effort to control my hair's natural tendency to poof to unflattering proportions in the more tropical climes...

If you've read my Bio or LinkedIn Profile, you know that I spent most of my career as an HR Pro before making a change in 2006 to become an Executive Recruiter/Coach & Consultant. When I worked in HR, every year I would receive the Conference brochures and devour them wishing that I could attend to learn about what was new and happening in HR, as well as to meet some of my peers. But every year, the money either wasn't in the budget, or the few times that it was budgeted, something always came up that prevented me from attending. So I'm super excited about this opportunity to finally make the pilgrimage to the land of 10,000+ HR Pros and also to participate as a Press Blogger!

I'll be tweeting, blogging and vlogging while at the Conference and sharing my learnings and experiences in several places. Kris Dunn, Jessica Lee and myself will be covering the Conference for Fistful of Talent and I'll also be playing the role of "Roving Reporter" for RecruitingBlogs.com and a new website RecruitingConferences.com. I'll link to any shenanigans I post on those sites here on Cincy Recruiter's World, but if you're not already subscribing to these resources - you should be!

At the Conference, there will be a ton of opportunities to learn about all of the areas of "People Strategy" that I'm consistently curious about, including Recruiting, Executive Coaching, Human Resources, Company Culture and Employment Branding and I've tried to select sessions to get my fill in as many of those areas as possible. Here's my tentative schedule so far:

Sunday, June 28th
2:30 pm     Opening General Session with Jack Welch (we're like BFF now that I follow Jack on Twitter)
5:00 pm     Press Briefing

Monday, June 29th
7:00 am     Retention Before Hiring, After Hiring and Long-Term Retention Strategies
10:45 am   Creating a Great Place to Work: Lessons from the 2009 '50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America'
12:00 pm   Lunch with Kris Dunn & Jessica Lee
2:00 pm     How Your Web Site Can Be Your #1 Recruiting Tool
4:00 pm     Creating Executive Presence: Thinking on Your Feet
6:00 pm     Yahoo! HotJobs VIP Party

Tuesday, June 30th
7:00 am     Strategic Interviewing Practices
10:45 am   How to Give a Butt-Kicking Presentation
2:15 pm     Employment Branding: Branding Your Organization To Attract & Retain A-Level Talent
6:00 pm     Tweetup at Ruth Chris Steak House

Wednesday, July 1st
10:00 am   Become a Talent Magnet: How to Entice, Endear & Engage Top Talent
11:30 am   HR Blogger Panel: Kris Dunn, Jessica Lee, Laurie Ruettimann & Lance Haun

You should also check out some of the other bloggers who will be attending the Conference. I've linked to their Twitter profiles below, as well as their most recent posts about their Conference plans:

Lance Haun - Your HR Guy: Updated SHRM 2009 Schedule

Sharlyn Lauby - HR Bartender: The Big Easy

Jessica Lee - Jessica Lee Writes: New Orleans...Here I Come!

Michael Long - The Red Recruiter: SHRMing Out With Twitter

Laurie Ruettimann - Punk Rock HR: Social Media, Human Resources & SHRM

Mary Ellen Slayter - SmartBlog on Workforce: My SHRM Schedule

Mark Stelzner - Inflexion Advisors: HR Gone Wild - SHRM 2009

UPDATE: Thanks to Brett Farmiloe of Jobing.com for making me aware of his post 5 Ways To Participate in SHRM 2009 From the Office on ERE.net. Good tips for those who must stay home!

You can catch me tweeting as @CincyRecruiter and follow all "real time" Conference tweets via Twitter Search here with the hashtag #SHRM09. (You don't even have to sign up for Twitter to do so!)

If you'll be attending the Conference, I'd love to meet you there! You can get my contact information by texting JENNIFERM to 50500 (via Contxt).

     

ERE Social Recruiting Summit 2009 - Recap, Resources & Tweets

Despite the challenges created by modern-day air travel (really, how many times in one trip can you be delayed by planes missing a part, having malfunctioning parts or a baggage crew who "forgets" to load the plane?), I've returned safely and inspired from the ERE Social Recruiting Summit held on June 16, 2009 at the Google Campus in beautiful Mountain View, California! Alas, no Google Goats were sighted during my brief stay. Apparently after an organizing attempt by PETA and demands for perks and free benefits, they've been unceremoniously relocated...

Below is a brief video recap of my experience (email subscribers click through the link to view the video). 

ERE Social Recruiting Summit Recap 6 17 09 from Jennifer McClure on Vimeo.

I must say that the crew from ERE did a fantastic job of assembling a full day of content with great speakers! They should also be highly praised for live streaming the Conference to allow those who were not able to attend to participate "live" and for many to be able to view the content in the future. 

I'm sharing links below to the presentations, as well as some selected Tweets shared by Conference attendees and others in the Twitterverse who were either watching the live feeds or "listening in" via the Twitter "hashtag" #socialrecruiting. Lots of great stuff here. Take some time to check out the slide decks and videos - as well as the links to all of the blogs and Twitter profiles!

---------------------------

Conference opening video (Evolution of Recruiting) shared by Susan Burns of Talent Synchronicity. 

Keynote presentation by Reid Hoffman - Chairman & CEO of LinkedIn - Slide Deck & Video.

@lifeatmcgladrey: http://newin.linkedinlabs.com/ - Shows new LinkedIn users as they sign up. Very, very cool!

@CincyRecruiter: April 2004 LinkedIn had 500k members. Now over 42 million. 

@mspecht: Every individual is a small business therefore every individual is an entrepreneur. Everyone will have an online profile

@joshuakahn: LI profiles are more authentic cuz people tend not to lie in public as much. True?

Punk Rock HR's Laurie Ruettimann - Ubiquity & Authenticity in Social Media - Slide Deck & Audio. 

@CincyRecruiter: For inquiring minds - @lruettimann is adorable & TINY! Started her HR career as HR Asst at a "cream of the crap" candy co.

@ewmonster: Respect professional boundaries. "Don't tell someone else's story for them- tell your own story." Nice. 

Mobile Marketing for Recruitment by Chris Hoyt and Michael Marlatt - Slide Deck

@masterburnett: Worldwide adults 25-34 send more text messages that they make phone calls. Not just youth

@GerryCrispin: mobile benefits: ubiquitous, immediate, private, convenient, actionable. need relevance to community to reach further

IBM Emerging Technologies Evangelist Sacha Chua - The Awesomest Job Search Ever - Video. (also check out Sacha's many awesome presentations on Slideshare)

@CincyRecruiter: Job search of the future ~ when u go to an interview & u already "know" each other. Social media can do that

@MattAlder: This girl is so enthusiastic it's actually scaring me, then maybe that's me just being British

@TheDavidGroup: Sacha Chua: [Employees] are going to be incredible recruiters if they LOVE the company. Boss's take note

No Sacred Cows: Making Sense of Social Recruiting by Joshua Kahn

@Frannyo: BEST Quote of the day "Advertising is the price we pay for being unremarkable." (Robert Stephens)

@lruettimann:  @joshuakahn advocates bacon, social media, and having back-channel conversations

@TheRecruiterGuy: @joshuakahn used Facebook page (that was created by FANS of BestBuy) to connect with job seekers AND customers.

@JohnSumser: You don't build communities, you discover them. Most important point of the day.

@CincyRecruiter: It's a post-brand perfect world. So don't pretend that u are & that this stuff isn't happening

LinkedIn Networking - Shally Steckerl - Video. 

@shally: Here are the top ten reasons recruiters should create LinkedIn groups: http://tr.im/oAjO

@shally: Answering questions and getting “best answer” helps establish you & your team’s credibility in your area of expertise

@shally: Idea 4 using LinkedIn Events: Create “virtual career day” and invite your target prospects, + u get 2 keep attendee list!

Welcome (Back) to the Community with William Uranga - Slide Deck

@JobVite: getting back to community...the biggest rewards in recruiting will come from building communities

Online Employer Reputation & Social Recruiting - Shannon Seery Gude - Video. 

@masterburnett: Never let an agency draft blog content if your goal is authenticity, it shouldn't be marketing perfect

@CincyRecruiter: Have social media guidelines vs social media policies. Tell employees what they can & should do vs shouldn't

@jrl2002: Great point made about looking at your goals & then determine the best tools vs. picking the current "hot" tool of the day

Additional Summaries from Social Recruiting Summit Attendees:

- Australian HR Technology Consultant Michael Specht - Social Recruiting Summit

- Pay-It-Forward Executive Recruiter Jenny DeVaughn - Notes from the Social Recruiting Summit

- Recruiting & Social Media Consultant Paul Jacobs from New Zealand - The Social Recruiting Summit (I'm Wagging My Tail)

- Human Resources Blogger/Writer Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR - Today @ Le Googles

- Jobing.com Social Media Manager Brett Farmiloe's Notes from the 2009 Social Recruiting Summit at Google HQ

- Chris Hoyt - Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T - What I Leaned (and Taught) at Camp

- IBM Emerging Technologies Evangelist - Sacha Chua - Notes from the Social Recruiting Summit

Google, Goats and Recruiting - All In a Days Work

On Monday, June 15th, I'll be attending the Social Recruiting Summit sponsored by ERE.net at Google HQ in Mountain View, CA - and I'm pretty excited about it to say the least! Here's a brief rundown of why I'm jazzed:

1. The Agenda/Speakers - ERE has done a great job of assembling a top-notch group of some of the sharpest tools in the box in recruiting and social media.
2. Keynote by Reid Hoffman - CEO of LinkedIn. Apparently Reid's going to make some special announcements about new features being introduced for Recruiters on LinkedIn. Maybe this will be one of those opportunities to say "I remember where I was when LinkedIn announced..." (or not)
3. The opportunity to meet some of my "virtual friends" in person - many of whom have already been more than helpful to me by providing advice, tips and help via email, social networks or by phone. I've developed some great relationships with some really smart and helpful people in the "talent community" through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & blogging. However, those relationships become even more solid when we're able to connect in person.
4. The Social Recruiting Summit will be held at Google's Headquarters and part of our day will include a tour. I'm looking forward to checking out some of what makes Google the former #1 in Fortune's 100 Best Place to Work.
5. The Google Goats. Apparently, in an effort to be more "green", Google has hired a herd of goats to keep their campus grounds neat and tidy. There's just not much more in the world that this Farm Girl would want right now than a photo op with one of the Google Goats. (I'm a simple girl - really.)

For those of you that weren't able to snag one of the 200 spots before the Conference sold out, ERE is graciously providing a live video stream of the Conference here. Also, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow @socrecruiting for updates or use Twitter Search and follow the hashtag #socialrecruiting here.

I'll be taking lots of notes and likely have some good fodder for future blog posts. So stay tuned for the really juicy stuff...

Stand Off uploaded by Kevin

Networking, Job Searching and Dealing With Recruiters... Oh My

Today, I'm featuring a reader question (actually several questions in one email) that myself and other Recruiters get in some form practically every day. Networking and job search can be scary ya'll. Networking and job searching in today's economy can be even more scary. Throw on top of that confusion trying to figure out how to deal with scary Recruiters, and it's a confusing and debilitating quandary for many. But it doesn't have to be...

The Question(s)

Hi Jennifer,

I'm following you on Twitter and I've checked out your blog and company's website. I've not looked for a new job in over 10 years - and I've never talked to a Recruiter, as I'm not sure how everything works. I'm employed full-time right now (in a good job), but I'm beginning to explore options. Do you deal mostly with companies or individuals - or both? How does a recruiter work? If I were interested in putting myself out there to search for a new opportunity, what's the best strategy to go about that? Are there easy answers to these questions - or is it not so simple?

Thanks for your help in getting me started.

"Bob"

The Answer(s)

Hi "Bob",

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step" (Lao Tzu) - so congratulations on taking the first steps toward finding your next great opportunity! (And thanks for connecting on Twitter/reading my blog!)

As for how our firm works - we are engaged and paid by the company (our clients) to find a specific type of person for a specific role within their organization. While some firms do specialize in certain industries, we don't, but we do focus on leadership roles (typically Director level and above). We're what's called a "retained search' firm - and we're paid to search for, identify and recruit candidates that are an exact match for our client's needs. There are also other types of Recruiters though and some will even take your resume and market you or call some companies where they have contacts to see if they may be interested in interviewing you. There aren't many Recruiters who will do that - but there are some. So I encourage you to contact several Recruiters and ask how each one works/what their process is.

The best strategy for getting in the game is networking, meeting people, building relationships and making sure that the people you meet are clear on what you're targeting/what you're best at. If you're searching confidentially, you can still do that well - just package it as you're trying to develop your network/meet new people to stay current and grow your career. The ultimate goal is to get people to "like you" and remember you - so when they hear of opportunities that may be of interest, they'll refer you or make you aware of them. Networking isn't always easy, but it is truly the most effective way to find your next great opportunity. I hear from a number of people each month who've landed new jobs (companies ARE still hiring) and I always ask them how they connected with their new opportunity. Almost 100% of the time, their answer is through their personal networking efforts.

There are a number of studies out there on how people get jobs, and while the percentages vary a bit by the level of position, it's typically something like 70% through networking, 20% through job boards and 10% through recruiters, so I encourage you to spend your time networking and searching for a new opportunity in similar percentages.

I hope that this information helps and I'm excited for you as you start the process!

Jennifer (the not so scary Recruiter)

More Networking Tips

Below is a copy of the slide deck from a recent talk I gave at a local Job Search Workshop that contains a few bullet points and tips for networking and interviewing success. (email subscribers may need to click through to view the presentation)

Five Quick Steps for Networking & Interviewing Success

View more presentations from Jennifer Mcclure.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback, and if you have any more suggestions for "Bob", let's hear 'em!

Social Media for HR Professionals Beyond LinkedIn

Last week, I spoke to a local Human Resources Group (the Northern Kentucky SHRM Chapter) about using Social Media as an HR professional along with David Cohen, a Senior Account Executive from LinkedIn. David did a great job of covering how LinkedIn can be utilized by HR and Recruiting professionals - including some of the cool features available with their corporate solutions. My job was to talk about some other tools to consider beyond LinkedIn -- in about 15 minutes. Fueled by probably one too many Diet Cokes in advance, it's entirely possible that I completed my presentation in record time. 

Social Media For Hr Professionals Beyond Linked In 4 16 2009

View more presentations from Jennifer Mcclure.

Here's a brief summary of my recommendations in the presentation including links for you to check them out:

Read/subscribe to Blogs, News Feeds, etc. to stay current.

There's a ton of great, leading edge content out on the world wide web to make us better as HR/Recruiting/Talent pros. The best way to access it is via RSS using some type of Reader. The second best way - via email subscription. For an HR starter pack, I recommend:

• Fistful of Talent - a multi-contributor blog where you'll get a variety of viewpoints in HR, Recruiting & Talent Management. (Added bonus - my ramblings appear of FOT every now and then too.)
• Benefits Buzz - Kris Dunn (the brains behind The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent) recently launched a second multi-contributor blog covering all things Benefits. While it's tough to make Benefits exciting and interesting, these folks are doing a nice job of bringing a little sexy back to this corner of the HR world.
• Compensation Cafe - Ann Bares' blog Compensation Force is where I go to get the latest news and thought provoking ideas about the world of compensation. Ann recently launched Compensation Cafe - where she and several other compensation pros will drop some knowledge on all things comp. 
• ERE.net - The Columns and Articles on ERE are a fantastic resource for HR pros with Recruiting responsibilities. 
• Alltop - For those who want to add more to their starter pack - find additional blogs of interest at Alltop, where feeds have been categorized and made available in a "magazine rack" format. You can browse several categories and check out what you like. A variety of HR and Recruiting blogs (including Cincy Recruiter's World) can be found in the Careers category.

Join Profession-Based Social Networks for HR.

Unfortunately, I see too many HR professionals who have isolated themselves from their peers and the outside world. Building effective professional relationships is critical for career development and some of the on-line professional networking options can be very helpful in that regard. These resources allow HR peeps to connect with each other, ask/answer questions, find resources, etc. Some recommendations:

• The HR Net - a global on-line resource for HR professionals to ask/answer questions that is facilitated by Steve Browne - Executive Director of Human Resources at LaRosa's, Inc. Steve is a super-connected HR pro and sought after speaker whose goal is to put the "fun" back in HR. He shares an original HR themed song each week in an email summarizing recent activity on the Net. (Connect to the HR Net by emailing Steve here.)
• HRMToday.com - Find blogs, groups, forums and other HR pros to connect with and become a part of the community. Recently started by HR bloggers Lance Haun, Laurie Ruettimann and Jenn Barnes, it's growing fast and becoming a great resource. 
• RecruitingBlogs.com - Similar to HRMToday, RBC is the place where Recruiters of all types are connecting. With over 16,000 members, it's a great place to connect with the recruiting community. 
• ERE.net - In addition to the content mentioned above that is produced by the writers at ERE, there are many different Discussion Groups to ask and answer questions on a variety of topics.
• SHRM Connect - coming soon from SHRM - a new "social-network" for HR pros! I'm excited to see how this one turns out so stay tuned. 

Facebook and Twitter - HR Can Use Them Too!

We also talked briefly about using Facebook and Twitter as HR pros - mostly to wake people up after their food comas had set in. Of the 100 or so attendees, maybe 10% were on Facebook, and it looked like about 5 were on Twitter. There are huge possibilities for both tools in HR - and most definitely for Recruiting and Employment Branding. Hopefully, a few of the attendees were inspired to at least begin to try them out.

If you're interested in more of my thoughts on social media resources for HR and Recruiting pros - check out my recent posts on Fistful of Talent - 5 Must Use Social Media Tools for HR & Recruiting Professionals in 2009 and 5 (More) Must Use Social media Tools for HR & Recruiting Professionals in 2009.

What are your thoughts about how HR pros can effectively use some of the social media tools beyond LinkedIn? What did I miss? What are your concerns? I'd love to hear from you in the Comments!

Spanning the World - Links You Can Use or Peruse - April 17th Edition

Each day, there's an enormous amount of great content produced by people all over the world and put out on the world wide web. Sometimes it's from a high-profile journalist or weblebrity, and sometimes it's from a little known blogger who took the time to share their thoughts with the few souls who follow them that have taken the time to subscribe to their blog. (Ahem... you can subscribe to this little known blogger's blog via email here or RSS here.)

As a consistently curious consumer of vast quantities of information in the areas of Recruiting, Coaching, HR, Leadership, Career Development, Employment Branding & Social Media, I'd like to share a few links to stuff I found interesting on the Interwebs within the last couple of weeks.

Recruiting

It's almost counter-intuitive to think that recruiting top candidates would be harder in the current economic times, but Auren Hoffman does a really nice job of explaining why that's indeed the case in Why Hiring is Paradoxically Harder in a Downturn. And he uses lots of charts, graphs and data to do it. We have ourselves a smarty up in here folks...

My friend Kelly Dingee - a Sourcing Ninja - published the April 2009 AIRS Sourcing Report. If your job involves sourcing candidates using the Internet, then this free monthly resource is for you!

Speaking of Sourcing Ninjas - the Boolean Black Belt (Glen Cathey) makes me dizzy with all of the ways that he can find potential candidates. Strap on your seat belt... Searching Social Media Requires Outside-The-Box-Thinking.

Times - they certainly are a-changin'...Good perspective for both Recruiters and Job Seekers on The Changing Face of Recruiting from Netshare, Inc.

I'm a serious fan of Chris Hoyt - Associate Director of Talent Attraction at AT&T' - who is probably more widely known (on the web) as the RecruiterGuy. Chris is way out in front in terms of trying and implementing innovative ideas in the recruiting/sourcing space. In 360-Crazy-Sexy-Cool (Recruiting/Sourcing) Part I, he begins a series of posts on a completely mobile and cloud based boxed set of recruiting tools. 

Coaching

Jason Seiden always has a way of getting in your face and daring you to take the actions necessary to grow as a leader or in your career - What "Color" Is My Parachute? Sh*t Brown - Thanks for Asking. I like Jason's coaching style - a lot.

Human Resources

(From RecruitingBlogs.com) Anyone who can quote my favorite movie Jerry Macguire and use the phrase "up at dawn, pride swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about" to describe the (sometimes) life of an HR Director has me at "Hello".

This week, I spoke at a local SHRM Group on the topic of How HR Can Use Social Media Beyond LinkedIn. Of the 100 or so in attendance, only about 5 were currently using Twitter. Workforce.com shares some of the drawbacks - and opportunities for HR in HR World Not Immune From Twitter Craze.

Leadership

Great leadership advice and summary of Tips from Tom Peters for Leading in Freaked-Out Times on The Practice of Leadership blog.

Career Development

From my perspective, the single biggest issue for many who are searching for a job is not being able to clearly articulate what they are targeting to best utilize their talents and experience. Couldn't have said this better myself - To Get the Job, Get Specific.

Another famous Jerry Macguire quote is put to good use by Kathy Rapp on Fistful of Talent in Help Me... Help You. How Not to Play the Salary Negotiation Game.

Employment Branding

The writers and contributors at ERE.net produce significantly high quality stuff on a daily basis. This week, one of my favorites was Ryan Estis - Employment Branding 2.0 - The 8 C's of My Web My Way.

Social Media/Social Networking

From what appears to be a relatively new blog with some very good content - The Social Executive - check out 9 Tips to Get Executives Started on Twitter.

Here's an awesome post from the LinkedIn Blog about What Recruiters Look For in a LinkedIn Profile: 8 Tips. A similar post appeared on Mashable - with more good tips - Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? Of course every recruiter is different and these methods may not be applied by all, but it's a good place to start.

Facebook isn't just for poking "friends" and throwing sheep anymore... Check out these 20 Facebook Applications to Assist You In Your Job Search.

If you're looking for some data to convince your CEO why it's ok to allow employees to use social media at work - here's your ticket - Facebook, YouTube at Work Make Better Employees: Study. But make sure he or she doesn't see this - Does Facebook Make You Dumber? Study shows users of social networking site get lower grades. Just a minor detail in the pursuit of happier employees.

Bringing It Home

And finally, a CincyRecruiter shout-out to the social network for HR professionals - HRMToday.com! I was already a fan, but recently winning an iPod Touch for sharing one of my (too many) hiring horror stories has made me love them that much more. If you're in HR - or work with people - join HRMToday and check out my winning submission on how a male stripper once tried to recruit ME during his interview. And you thought you had all of the fun in Accounting...

Until next time, take it away Len Berman

10 Social Media Resources for Executive Job Search

I recently spoke at the Greater Cincinnati ExecuNet networking meeting for senior level professionals in career transition on the topic of 10 Social Media Resources for Executive Job Search. The group included a mix of executives - some familiar with many of the resources, some familiar with a few, and some who were learning about them for the first time. My goal was to provide a wide range of tools for the attendees to investigate, with the hope that each person walked away with at least three or four that they wanted to increase their involvement with or to implement.

My top 10 - in order of recommendation - are as follows:

1. LinkedIn (duh)

2. VisualCV

3. JibberJobber

4. Personal Website (buy yourname.com)

5. Blogging

6. Facebook

7. Ning Groups

8. Twitter

9. Research/Automate/Consolidate (use RSS / read Blogs / set up Google Alerts)

10. Job Search Engines/Aggregators (Indeed.com & SimplyHired.com)

I'd be interested in your thoughts and feedback as to additional tools you would recommend that were not included, or comments on my rankings. The comments are yours dear readers. Power to the people, Yo...

10 Social Media Tools For Executive Job Search 4 2009

View more presentations from Jennifer Mcclure.

Keep The Dream Alive for CincyRecruiter's World!

O.k. CincyRecruiter raving fans (or mild enthusiasts), in the spirit of March Madness, the gang at Fistful of Talent and The HR Capitalist Kris Dunn are once again choosing the top Talent Management blogs - but this time instead of the FOT contributors being the judges - it's time for your vote to be counted! So, since I'm not one of the judges as usual, CincyRecruiter's World has been added to the mix. What that means is that I NEED YOU to take a couple of minutes to check out the poll, and if you'd like to see CincyRecruiter's World advance, cast your vote in Game #11 (for CincyRecruiter).

Unfortunately, I'm up against Steve Roesler of All Things Workplace, which is a great blog that I love. However, my top strength in the results of my Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment is Competition - so in an effort to remain true to form - Steve must go down! (but I love ya man) Seriously, I'd suggest you check out the contenders in the HR Carnival/FOT March Madness Rankings and add each blog to your email subscriptions or RSS Reader because they're all great.

But it sure would be nice to advance to the Sweet 16... Voting in Round 1 ends Thursday, March 5th - so don't delay!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

 

Recruiters Care How Long Your Resume Is - But Unfortunately They Don't Agree

Today over at Fistful of Talent, the latest episode of FOTv is up, and we're talking resumes. Recently, FOT contributor Jason Seiden came out pretty strongly for a one page resume in a video post on his own blog (great stuff - I highly recommend you subscribe/become a regular reader). As you can see in the comments on his original post and in his follow-up post, not everyone agrees with him. So we've taken the opportunity at FOTv to let several members of the Fistful of Talent gang share their thoughts on Jason's stance and my response includes the comment that Jason may be committing "resume malpractice".  (Yep, Drama Queen right here.)

The FOTv video includes several different viewpoints on what the ideal resume should/shouldn't include and the comments on the post include some great feedback from recruiters, HR professionals and job seekers as well.  Again, not everyone's in agreement.

If you're a job seeker who is trying to figure out what works/what doesn't work in regards to your resume, then this type of debate may be very frustrating for you. However, my advice to anyone who asks me for resume feedback is to ask several recruiters their opinions (not just me) and then take that feedback, incorporate what resonates, and create a document to be proud of. You have to OWN your resume and if it's working (that's the key), don't necessarily make changes every time someone suggests you do so. If you can rock a one-page resume, then go for it. If it's two pages long, the consensus seems to be that most recruiters don't mind that length if all of the content is relevant. Three pages or more - you're pushing it...

I'd be interested in your comments/questions about what makes up the ideal resume. Take a moment to leave a comment here and I'll answer your questions/provide some more of my thoughts in a future post.

Original Resume T-shirt uploaded by SOCIALisBETTER