Category Archives: Career Guidance Service

LinkedIn, a No Brainer for Job Search

26 April, 2017

As I work with career coaching clients looking to transition, I am thankfully seeing less and less resistance to LinkedIn, however, there are definitely still some people who are yet to appreciate LinkedIn’s capability for job search or the role it plays in many a successful job search campaign.

Last week I received a message from one of my career coaching clients who has landed a great new job in her professional field. She got the role by connecting with the principal of the company she’s now working with and then sending her resume to them. The principal contacted her to meet up for a chat which then turned into a job offer. This is far from an isolated event. Another client told me just today that he had been approached by two recruiters in the last week after updating his LinkedIn profile. The roles are both of interest and align well to his skills and experience, which of course were reflected in his new profile.

Past clients have told stories of being headhunted via their LinkedIn profile whilst others have been contacted by connections about roles after adding “Currently looking for opportunities” to their profile headline.

LinkedIn is a key element of your professional branding. If you have a profile you do need to ensure it does justice to your brand. LinkedIn ranks very highly on google so will generally be the first item that comes up in a search for your name. And yes, they really do search, as one of my clients unfortunately discovered before she’d updated her profile.

Here’s my top 5 tips for using LinkedIn for job search:

Use the LinkedIn job search tool, accessible from the main menu, to search for job titles and locations, similar to online job boards. You can set up a job alert to be notified of future vacancies. You can even ask LinkedIn to suggest jobs aligned to your career interests (which you enter and update), with an option to show recruiters that you are open to opportunities.

Create a future-focused profile, ie. one written for your next role. Include a well-written summary with common keywords related to your target role and a catchy headline.

Follow companies you are interested in working for as they will frequently advertise roles on their company page to the base of followers who are interested in the organisation. Some may not even advertise elsewhere.

Build your connections by reaching out to your network. Cast a wide net – the more people you are connected with, the greater the opportunities. If you have a network of say 100, and each of those people has a similar sized network, you might have access to as many 10 000 people, any of whom could know of an opportunity to suit you.

Build your recommendations and endorsements as these can confirm your value to a potential employer. Consider writing recommendations for others which may encourage them to do the same for you but you can also ask people directly.

Want more detail on LinkedIn for job search, check out the LinkedIn Guide on the Career Vitality website Toolkit? If working with a career coach sounds like it’s for you, call Donna for a no obligation conversation on 0419 120 601 or donna@careervitality.com.au.

The career coaching paid for itself!

10 April, 2017

One of my early career coaching clients was a Teacher’s Aide with 17 years’ experience who wanted a career change. Her part-time role had really worked for her and the family in the past because of the hours and time off for school holidays. With her youngest child in their final year of high school, she was able to increase her hours just at a time that the school was scaling back hours as a result of reducing enrolments.

My client had no idea what she wanted to do next or how to go about getting a job. It had been a long time since she applied for a position and lots had changed with the advent of the internet. She recognised she needed help and decided to invest in career guidance despite her husband’s view that she was wasting both her time and money.

We started the process by looking at my client’s career story through an activity called a Timeline. By identifying everything she had ever wanted to be, was, or still wanted to be (including paid and unpaid roles) and then considering what had influenced her towards or away from these options we were able to draw out a lot of valuable information about her career preferences and influences. The next step was to identify what she liked or disliked about the roles and what tasks and skills she would like to take forward to future roles. Through this activity it became very clear that my client had a strong interest and aptitude for administrative work.

The next stage of our work focused on presenting her fit for administrative work in a market where she would be competing with career admininistrators. While we couldn’t change her Teacher’s Aide job title, we were very particular about presenting her administrative and other relevant transferable skills rather than the technical skills related to teacher’s aide work. It called for a very different resume and cover letter than if she were staying in the same field.

After only a couple of weeks my client successfully landed a full-time administrative role, managing to double her salary between the increased hours and the higher rate of pay associated with the administrative role. We both loved that she was able to silence hubby by demonstrating that the career coaching had paid for itself.

If you’d like to talk about how career coaching can help you, call Donna on 0419 120 601 or email donna@careervitality.com.au.

How to fast track landing your next job

04 April, 2017

Where do you look for roles when you’re in job search? Are you like many others who trawl Seek advertisements? There’s a bunch of different job boards out there but one thing they have in common is that they’re incredibly competitive because most job seekers focus on that channel.

When providing career guidance to my clients, I encourage them to think broadly to maximise their job opportunities. There is a strong view in the market that as many as 70% of jobs are not advertised and this is what we refer to as the hidden job market.

So how do you access the hidden job market? A great place to start is your network which can be a source of vacancies, referrals and support. Why not check out my You Tube video which steps you through an excellent tool for mapping out your network so that you recognise who can support your job search?

Direct approaching employers can get great results. I know of a woman who has never applied for a role but always keeps a resume in her car for when she comes across the right employer. Identify a number of employers you are interested in working for and send them your resume. Follow them on LinkedIn and visit their website careers pages to potentially access unadvertised roles. Work out if you know anyone who can provide an introduction to a person or company of interest as a referral can dramatically increase your chances of success. You might even write to a company with an offer to solve a problem they have or with a way to generate additional revenue into their business which has led to roles actually being created.

Consider including social media in your job search. I’ve had clients post on Facebook that they’re looking for their next opportunity and it’s been delivered to them. LinkedIn is also an excellent resource. While the platform advertises jobs, there are the additional benefits of companies posting vacancies on their pages which are only accessible to those following the company and you can easily see your network and network’s network to tap into opportunities and introductions.

Other valuable strategies include volunteering or enrolling in a course. Volunteering can be a great way to get experience and can lead to paid work. A course will build skills while connecting you with new network contacts and their benefits.

If you would like advice for accessing the hidden job market, or could benefit from some career guidance, call Donna on 0419 120 601 or email donna@careervitality.com.au to book a free 15 minute consultation. We work with Brisbane clients as well as offering skype and telephone consults nationwide.

How to Ace Your Interview Responses

27 March, 2017

One of my favourite activities as a career coach is preparing clients for interviews. They often come to me saying that the very thought of an interview gives them sweaty palms; recalling horror stories of mental blocks as soon as they’re asked a question; oblivious about how to efficiently prepare; and having minimal ideas about the process and what an interviewer is assessing. Fortunately they leave experiencing the opposite and frequently go on to get the job.

In the modern employment market we generally see behavioural or competency-based interview formats which you can recognise by their request for examples or use of words such as “Tell me about a time …” This format is underpinned by the concept that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, ie. if you have successfully got an outcome in a previous role you are likely to be able to do so in their context.

Preparation is really the key to success. Here are a few tips that can make a big difference to your ability to effectively answer interview questions and stand out above other applicants.

Develop a suite of your achievements/experiences (aka examples) using a model such as CAR (context/action/result) or STAR (situation/task/action/result). It is impossible to know exactly what questions an interviewer(s) will ask but if you have a comprehensive pool of examples to demonstrate the outcomes you have achieved in your roles, you will be well positioned to answer any question they may ask you.
Note the competencies you demonstrated in each of your examples so that you can offer an appropriate example when you identify the competency being assessed by an interview question.
Ensure that you use a specific example. Candidates have a tendency to generalise eg. “I often communicate with difficult people – I ask them what the problem is; listen to their perspective; observe their non-verbal communication; offer my view on the situation, etc.” If you want to maximise your interview results, it is preferable to talk about a specific interaction in more detail – eg. “I have had a number of experiences dealing with difficult people – for example, one of my colleagues at ABC Company frequently spoke to me, and other members of the team, with a dismissive tone which made me feel that he didn’t value our opinions. The situation escalated one day when he did this in front of one of my client managers. It had got to the point that I no longer wanted to work in the team. One day I met with my colleague and told him about my observations and how I was feeling. The colleague was surprised and indicated that he appreciated the feedback. From that point forward the colleague changed his behaviour and we were able to maintain a very effective working relationship.”
Review and refresh your examples in the lead up to your interview, particularly taking into account the competencies required for the role.
Take your notes/examples to the interview with you. While it is perfectly acceptable to refer to them, sometimes just having them can help candidates to feel more secure.

Any questions about this blog, interviews or career guidance can be referred to Donna at Career Vitality on 0419 120 601 or donna@careervitality.com.au. Good luck with your next interview.

Is my career over, I haven’t got a referee?

16 March, 2017

As a career coach, I am often asked how to tackle not having a referee. Most employers expect to be able to contact a previous supervisor for feedback on your past performance, yet we’re not always in a position to provide a professional referee.

This situation can occur across all stages of the career journey. Perhaps you’re too nervous to tell your current supervisor you’re on the hunt; maybe your previous boss passed away; your earlier employment was overseas and you’ve lost contact with them; perhaps you and the boss didn’t see eye to eye; or you’ve taken some time out of the paid workforce or never worked before. Whatever the reason, don’t despair because there are a few ways that you might be able to get around the issue.

Past or current colleagues, or previous bosses, can make great referees. The hiring manager/recruiter basically wants to speak to someone who has observed your work so think laterally about who fits this bill – present and past clients or suppliers might even suit. Have you done any relevant voluntary work? If you need to dig deeper, you might consider presenting past written references, performance review information, performance feedback, LinkedIn recommendations, and/or awards that you have achieved. You can suggest to the hiring manager that you offer a personal referee to supplement what you are able to present. Offering the option of an extended probation may also tip them over to making an offer.

If you’ll need an opportunity to explain your referee circumstances, I recommend stating “Referees available upon request” on your resume (unless it is completely untrue in which case leave the heading out). This will allow you an opportunity to impress with your resume and interview before having the conversation about referees. I have a contact who was employed by a large corporate without a professional referee (she had taken a parenting break and worked for her husband for the preceding five years) but it went all the way to the CEO for approval. Always be honest with the potential employer and be prepared to work with them to achieve a solution.

If you want to be proactive in remedying the referee situation, you might consider volunteering or doing some temporary work which may not have the same rigour around referees but have the potential to lead to a referee.

Career Vitality offers 1:1 and group career counselling to individuals and organisations in Brisbane. We’d love to chat about how we can support you in your career. Contact us at donna@careervitality.com.au.

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