I recently received a call from a local Denver employer who was planning on releasing 50 full time employees.  The cuts came as a result of a merger between them and their largest competitor.  The company wanted to offer career outplacement services for their released employees as a way of maintaining good will and assisting their former staff in jump starting their job search.

The fact is, workforce reduction is an ongoing event in Colorado and elsewhere, and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.  Today’s economic model is one of capricious ebbs and flows with companies now needing to change directions at light speed or risk losing ground to the competition.  As costs to produce products and services increase, companies are continually looking for effective ways to manufacture or provide a quality product or service at a fair price and maintain their competitive advantage.  Sometimes, this means doing more with less and reducing the workforce and/or shipping certain jobs overseas, also known as “outsourcing.”

The positive news is that most people look back favorably on their release in that it allowed them to further define what they are truly looking for in their career and life and then actually pursue it.  I should know, the reason I started Ascend Career and Life Strategies is because I was laid off back in 2001.  Looking back, it was one if the best things to happen to me as I was shaken out of my complacent, cushy, C+ worker state and forced to take action.  So if I haven’t said it in a while, a big THANK YOU to my last employer for laying me off.

I’m not saying starting your own business is the only way to go after a layoff. My challenge to you is to take the opportunity to grow, get better, and at the very least, determine what it is you can really get jazzed and excited about!

Based on proven client strategies and techniques for turning a layoff into a victory in a challenging job market and tepid economy, here are FOUR ACTION STEPS that you can employ immediately to turn a setback into a springboard and launch yourself to the next level:

1. Stay positive, stay focused, and develop a proactive mindset.

For many people, shock, anger, resentment, negativity, and sometimes even depression can all be byproducts of a layoff.  But the bigger problem is the devastating effects that becoming habitually negative and pessimistic can have on our attitude towards work, the job search, and our life.

The more we dwell on any subject, good or bad, the more we program ourselves to move in that direction—just like a guided missile.  Continually dwelling on what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and running scenarios back and forth thorough your mind like a tape player will only make matters worse and set you back even further.  Certainly we are all human and have human emotions.  It’s okay to get angry, upset, mad, etc., the key is not to D-W-E-L-L on it.  Accept it even for what it is and resolve to move on.  This takes practice, patience, and self-discipline.  The more you dwell, the more you program yourself to achieve your own self-fulfilling prophecy.  Nature is neutral which means we don’t get what we want in life, we get what we expect and what we think about all day long.

Stay positive by embarking on productive activities that give you the greatest levels of pleasure and boost your self-esteem.  Surround yourself with positive people who will encourage you.  Take some time to write out new goals.  Use positive affirmations and read motivational material on a daily basis.  You need support right now, not critics, so try to minimize your exposure to pessimistic people.  Ditch the negative mindset and employ an attitude of positive expectancy.  This is step one in making any successful job, career, or life-altering change.  Get involved in a volunteer activity as a means of keeping your skills sharp, networking, and giving back to your community.  You’ll feel terrific when you feel like you are making a difference!

2. Approach the job search as a full time job.  Set daily goals, to-do’s, and make a schedule.

Look at the job search as an opportunity to better and further your professional career.  Most people never take the needed risks to make exciting changes in their life until they are finally forced to the front lines via a layoff or firing.  Use this time as a means for reevaluating your key strengths, skills, and interests, and how you can parlay them into a BETTER position.  Don’t just settle for what is thrown your way, be proactive and carve out a more fulfilling career!

Approach your search as a full time job, listing and planning out all the key elements of a successful job search.  They may include things like researching companies, networking, tuning up your resume, looking for viable positions, assembling cover letters, portfolios, and business plans, and devising an interview strategy.  There is a lot to do and stay busy with when the job search is done right!  Block out days and times when you’ll accomplish each task.  Regularly schedule meetings and lunches with old coworkers and networking contacts and develop momentum.  You’ll feel better about yourself and how you are spending your time when you stay productive and maintain a regular schedule.

3. Don’t rely on just one or two job search methods—employ a multi-faceted approach.

One of the biggest faux pas’ I see is that job seekers seem to always gravitate towards the simple and easy.  Certainly the internet and putting the word out to friends and peers all have some merit in the job search.  But the most effective job search strategy in any type of economy is contacting the companies you want to work for as 70-80 percent of all jobs go unadvertised.  This means companies that you want to work for are looking for good candidates but simply may not be advertising their open positions.

Employ a multi-faceted approach when looking for potential positions.  Much like an automobile engine, your job search will run better when all cylinders are firing at once rather than just one or two.  In addition to using the internet, networking, and recruiters, assemble a target list of companies you are interested in working for.  Also, ensure you have a strong social media strategy for your job search. LinkedIn and Twitter are the two best sites to be on for any job seeker. Tapping into the hidden job market is the only job search strategy where the odds are actually with you.

4. Go to work on YOU.  Embark on a self development plan to sharpen your skills and take your game to the next level.

A down period in your employment is a golden opportunity to take a class, get some professional career assistance, attend some seminars, take an assessment test, or do some volunteer work.  Many of these resources are low cost or even free.  Unfortunately, most people are comfortable with the status quo and don’t put forth any effort to sharpen their skills or assess their career direction, even during a layoff.

The people who are paid more money, promoted faster, and usually the last to be let go are the ones who are learning and growing at a faster rate than everyone else and can contribute the most value to their company.  It doesn’t happen by accident; these people have a plan for success and continually view themselves as an ongoing project—just as a pro athlete trains and practices everyday to further sharpen their game and skills.

So take some time and revisit your goals, both personal and professional.  Where do you want to go?  What is your next career move and how are you going to get there?  Then, when asked during your next interview what you have been doing during your work hiatus, you will be armed with the bulletproof answer of improving yourself, your skills, and assembling a plan for taking your career to the next level.  Making a commitment to professional development and self improvement can be the single-most powerful decision you can ever make on your path to achieving greater success in work and life.

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So if you have recently been laid off, terminated, or maybe see the possibility of reductions looming in your future, stay ahead of the curve and employ a proactive attitude.  Assemble a plan to take your career to the next level.  Set new goals and commit to lifelong learning and continual professional and personal improvement.  Use this opportunity as a positive springboard to bigger and better things.  Remember, it’s not what happens to us in life, but what we do with what happens!

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I recently read a CNNMoney.com article about how 1.2 million people are out of work but have become so discouraged that they’ve quit looking. The article went on to say that these non-lookers, now officially called “Discouraged Workers,” are not even counted in the unemployment statistics because they haven’t’ actively looked for new employment in more than four weeks.

Sometimes the media really ticks me off. Here’s a direct quote taken from the article: “Still, there’s not much hope out there for this segment of the unemployed. There are five workers for every available opening.” Wow, not much hope out there, so I guess the only other option is to Q-U-I-T. One question: How does one protect their home, credit score, keep food on table, and pay for the occasional $15 summer movie if we quit?

Technology has given us some tremendous conveniences. It has also caused some of us to become averse to hard work and good ‘ol fashioned elbow grease. Yes finding a good job takes HARD WORK. But so does achieving any worthwhile goal. Ask any successful author, business owner, athlete, or professional from any industry for that matter.

I can appreciate hard facts and statistics regarding who is hiring who and how the U.S. is performing economically.  But to tout quitting as an alternative like some kind of avante garde fashion trend is just plain bad press. The whole “sky is falling” mentality the media likes to quip about provides more validation for the average job seeker to simply give up.   I guess Don Henley was right, everybody loves dirty laundry!

Here’s an interesting fact: 99% of all U.S. millionaires are independent business owners and business professionals–who are very good at what they do.  Only 1% of U.S. millionaires won, inherited, or “fell” into the money in some form.  The vast majority have worked extremely hard to get where they are now.

My advice to you: do not “quit” under any circumstances.  Stopping and starting your efforts will exponentially add more time to your job search.  As a career coach who works with hundreds of individuals like you each year and conducts public speaking events for thousands more, I have worked with all sorts of tough cases.  The number one common denominator among all clients who have landed a solid position is the quality of persistence.  They simply resolved to never give up!

Today, a professional who is a specialist in a particular area or trade will win the job over a jack-of-all-trades type candidate.  The fact is that most of us do have experience and relevant skills in a number of different areas.  However, if you want to increase your chances for success in today’s highly competitive job market, you must focus your skills and expertise in one or two occupational areas known as personal brands.  All documents, communications, and positioning statements should be prepared with this in mind.

The job search mentality used to be one of carpet-bombing employers with your resume.  Not anymore.  The philosophy behind a winning approach is high quality, not high volume.  You need to clearly understand each employer’s needs and then construct a strategy as to how you will address those needs; both on paper and in-person.

Here are FIVE CUTTING-EDGE and PROVEN strategies for 2010 that will help differentiate you from the job search masses:

1. Contacting Companies of Interest: How do you locate positions that exist only in the minds of directors, vice presidents and company leaders?  70-80% of all jobs are never advertised according to the U.S. Department of Labor.  By assembling a target list of companies and then detailing a strategy for reaching the hiring manager, mining the hidden job market can be a powerful job search technique. Employ a solid social media strategy using sites like Linked In and Twitter and utilize your personal networking contacts to reach out to key company representatives and to network your way to informational and job interviews. Compared to 200-1 odds for landing your next position via a major job board, contacting companies of interest is the only job search strategy where the odds are actually with you.
2. The V-Letter: One such strategy to lessen your chances of ending up in the “discard stack” is called the V-Letter.  This document is a short letter that compares your qualifications with the employer’s requirements for the job.  It uses the same concept as a cover letter with the only difference being that you are replacing the middle paragraph (the “body” of the cover letter) with a “skills table” drawing parallels to the company’s requirements and what you have to offer.  It’s brief and concise enough to catch the reader’s eye with highly relevant material within those first crucial seconds. “Connect the dots” and make it crystal clear that you are a solid fit for the job.
3. Customize Your Resume: It is absolutely imperative that your resume be customized for the specific position that you’re applying for.  Do not allow the hiring manager to make the assumption that you will be a good fit for the position. Currently, greater than 50% of all organizations are now using some sort of an automated keyword scanner which makes customizing your resume even more imperative.  Work in relevant keywords, phrases, and buzzwords (provided you can validate them!) taken directly from the job description to increase your chances.
4. The Job Businesses Plan: A Job Business Plan is a two to three page mini-business plan you present to the prospective employer during the interview or, in certain cases, before the interview phase.  It is designed to show them that you took the time to assess their business needs, perhaps by speaking with an inside coach or the hiring manager, and have used your creativity and business intellect in designing a results-based action plan to offer solutions.
5. The Brag Book: A Brag Book is a professional portfolio—usually a three-ring binder with page protectors—that details documented academic and professional achievements.  By employing this strategy and presenting it during an interview, you are stating to Company X that you are someone who always does more than expected, are a high-achiever, and approaches your job in a very well organized and pragmatic manner.

For the job market in 2010, more than anything else, you need to distinguish yourself from the masses.  Many published job openings on the internet can receive hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of responses. The bigger question is are these posted openings still available or even legit?  You need to package, bundle, and market yourself as the ideal fit for the position you’re applying for.  You need to market yourself as a specialist at what you do.  You need to pay special attention to details and show the prospective employer that you are not simply your average run-of-the-mill employee.

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

Dirty laundry may sell eyeballs but it’s not the whole story. I work with people every day who’ve made successful career changes and have landed solid jobs. Stay focused, stay motivated, and by all means stay in the game!

Want some free samples? Contact us at info@ascendcareers.net for a sample V-Letter, New Rules Resume, Job Business Plan, and Brag Book Checklist.

Donald J. Strankowski Jr. is founder and president of Ascend Career and Life Strategies, a training and consulting firm for businesses, professionals, executives.  He works out of Boulder, Colorado and can be contacted at 303-245-7049, via email at don@ascendcareers.net, or on the web at www.AscendCareers.net

I recently took an entire Sunday afternoon and cleaned out my walk-in closet.  The task, which elicited the same level of excitement as being rolled in honey and fed to fire ants, was vastly overdue as the last time I went through my wardrobe was sometime during the Clinton administration.

As I sorted out the clothing in into their respective piles of “gone, maybe, and stay,” I realized the task was also a bit sentimental.  With a lump in my throat and queezy feeling in my stomach, I piled for donation among other things, Wisconsin Badger and Chicago Bear sweatshirts, an array of Cosby sweaters, banded collar shirts, 80’s rock band gear (Dokken and Whitesnake made the cut and stayed), and obnoxiously patterned polo shirts.  Each piece had a story and a place in my history, and with some items, I felt like I was losing an old friend.

But times change.

As a career coach who speaks with hundreds of individuals each year, I often find the same holds true for many job seekers.  Some are all too tied to search strategies that, like my much of my now former wardrobe, were also last effective sometime during the Clinton administration.

We all have a tendency to hold on to comfortable behaviors, beliefs, and practices.  I use a BlackBerry, but just can’t seem to part with my good old Day Runner pencil-and-paper-style planner either.  But in the job search, what may have been effective just a few years ago in terms of getting you noticed and getting you hired, may not work at all right now.

The rate of change in the job market and all things business is more rapid now than ever before, so I have kicked the job searching skills into high gear to share what’s hot, what’s not, what’s in, what’s out, what’s new and now, and what’s sooo yesterday.

Never fear!  You no longer run the risk of being a trend-gone-wrong “job search leisure suit.” I have taken out all of the guesswork, and lucky for you… Ascend Career and Life Strategies knows What’s Hot and What’s Not and most of all, what WORKS real-time for getting you hired in 2010!

What’s NOT

Job Boards: Do you always bet the long shot? The odds of successfully navigating the application and subsequent interview process and ultimately winning the job via a posting on a major internet job board are about 200-1 (you’re better off taking 8-1 on Tiger entering the monastery).  That means for every one person who lands their next gig via the Big Board, 199 others are finding work through some other method, usually networking and word-of-mouth.

Generic Resumes and Standard Cover Letters: There is simply too much competition right now for the good jobs among highly qualified applicants to take a bland, vanilla approach.  Utilizing a chronological resume that describes you as a jack-of-all-trades (and ultimately master of none) is a sure-fire method for ensuring a long job search.  Determine your respective job search targets and assemble a Branded Resume for each type of job you are pursuing. Couple it with a highly-focused and detailed cover letter or V-Letter where appropriate.

“Y2K Tactics”: Back in 2000, I would receive a voice mail from a recruiter at least once a week saying he’d found my resume posted on a job board and had an opportunity for me.  The interesting thing was is that my resume was outdated and mostly generic, but still garnering attention.  On occasions when I was actively looking for positions, I would surf the job boards and click “Apply Now” until my finger was sore, sending the same resume to any and every job that looked somewhat appealing…and it worked. But in 2010, less is more which means focusing on a few opportunities that are deemed a solid fit and then taking the time to produce A+ work when applying to the position; sending a highly customized resume and cover letter detailed to the job’s most important duties and responsibilities. “Connect the dots” and show that you are a solid fit!

C+ Work and “Pikers”: If there’s a silver lining in any economic downturn, it’s that companies are forced to trim their rosters keeping only the best of the best.  2010 is no place for professional pikers, clock-watchers, or C+ employees.  These are the worker-types that promote workplace apathy while compromising product quality, integrity, and service. They really ticked me off because I usually had to carry the extra load!  Ensure you’re the type who provides value for any organization and is constantly looking for ways to increase revenues, decrease costs, or both.  If you are constantly asking yourself, “How can I create more value for my company?” and resolve to produce only A+ work, you’ll be one of the first hired and/or last let go in any sort of economic downturn.

“The Generalist”: The job right now goes to the specialist not the generalist.  This is one of the most common job seeking gaffes that I see today; a job seeker who bundles and packages themselves too generally and casts a large net in hopes of landing “something.” This approach doesn’t garner results—at all—in today’s highly competitive job market.  Fishing for catfish in the Bering Sea would bring better results as the Deadliest Catch in the job search is not catching anything at all.

What’s HOT

LinkedIn: If you’re going to do business—any type of business—in 2010 you need a LinkedIn profile. Not a tool for posting pics of Scruffy the cat, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site mainly used for professional networking. It has more than 50 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries worldwide.  You can build a network of solid professional contacts, conduct company research, and investigate key decision makers. You can also describe and summarize your brand, areas of expertise and work history, and search jobs.

Twitter: Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers. Twitter can be used to help a job seeker build a brand and also to “follow” certain experts, companies, recruiters, and recruitment firms. You can also score some Twitter-only deals like half-price Frappuccinos (follow Starbucks) to combat the 2:30 lunch coma.

Blogs: Blogs are an excellent way to stay connected to your industry and occupation while you are looking for employment by subscribing to RSS feeds from certain blogging experts. Avoid going the route of the Smith-Corona typewriter and becoming obsolete by finding out who the real players are within your niche, sector, and industry and stay connected with the latest trends, technology, and information.

Events, MeetUp.com, Networking: Remember humans? You know, those fleshy creatures with arms and legs and eyeballs? In addition to social networking sites, if you’re not getting out there and building your brand through plain old fashioned face-to-face contact, you’re greatly reducing your chances of finding an ideal position. More people are hired via networking than any other job search technique, so build that brand and make it a point to regularly attend functions, events, and meetings per your career objectives.

A Free Agent who produces only A+ work: The average tenure for today’s worker in any given position is 2-4 years or about the same shelf life as GMO veggies.  The Free Agent Mentality says that you will come in and do the best job possible producing only A+ work, leaving ego and any negativity at the door, because the minute you’re hired your days may be numbered.  That’s just the state of business today. Do the best job at all times now so you can leverage your successes, achievements and accomplishments in future interviews, when bolstering your professional portfolio, and for using your reputation capital in asking for referrals, references, and recommendations.

So there you have it.  My best advice for what works and what doesn’t right now, real-time, in 2010.

But hey, I’m sentimental too.  I enjoy 70’s and 80’s reruns and even wear my Walter Payton throwback football jersey on occasion.  So when you’re done sending out a few tweets, checking MeetUp.com, and customizing your resume, go ahead, put on the shiny, clinging shirt and stretchy Lycra pants and pop in Saturday Night Fever…on Beta.  You can also snuggle up with your favorite pet rock and watch an episode of The Partridge Family when the movie’s over.  Check your TV Guide for local listings.  Just don’t forget about the Jiffy Pop on the stove!

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Do have any retro or throwback comments concerning the job search? Where’s the last place you actually saw a payphone?  Anything to add to the What’s Hot/What’s Not list? How about your favorite 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s reruns?  Maybe a classic piece of apparel that you just don’t have the heart to part with?

Your comments are welcome—we want to hear from you!

1999 was a good year.  The economy was solid, unemployment was low, high-tech and all things dot-com were flying, and the Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl.  I was employed by a small, start up firm in Boulder as a Regional Sales Executive selling internet performance monitoring software.  Basically, we measured the speed of web sites and e-commerce models.  Cool company, cool job, good times.

Back then at least once a week, I would receive a voice mail from a recruiter representing some firm saying he’d found my resume posted on a job board and had an opportunity for me.  The interesting thing was that I hadn’t done much to my resume since I was last in-between jobs about a year and a half prior and actually forgot I had it posted on a few of the big job boards.   It was outdated and mostly generic, but still garnering attention.  Despite their lucrative offers and sales pitches of greener pastures elsewhere, I generally wasn’t interested.  The position I had was a decent fit, paid well, and I enjoyed the work.

The Rules Have Changed

It’s now 2010 and most of the wannabe dot-coms of 1999 are “dot-gones.”  The high-tech industry is tepid, the Denver Broncos have a mediocre team, and the “cool” start up I worked for in 1999 has evaporated.  Job seekers who once relied on job boards to bring them solid leads and opportunities are now facing tremendous odds when applying for public openings.  The job search techniques that worked in 1999 don’t work well now — if they work at all.

It used to be that a resume was a document which described your employment objective, chronological work history, and formal education.  It was a one-size-fits-all proposition.  List everything you’ve done at the different jobs you’ve had and the recruiter will figure out that you’re a solid fit for the position, was the attitude of most job seekers a decade ago.  Back then, this plan actually worked.

A New Job Market Means New Resume Techniques

The rules for resume success have changed greatly in the past few years.  These changes have further been amplified by the recent economic developments of the past 18 months.  Today, for a resume to be successful in landing someone on the list to be considered, it must be a high-impact marketing document selling the candidate as a specialist and expert in a particular area.  It needs to talk about tangible accomplishments, achievements, and major problems solved.  It needs to break out relevant key skills and areas of expertise in a what am I bringing to the table NOW format.

The competition for the best jobs has never been greater.  With some openings garnering more than 1000 applications, there is less emphasis on the day-to-day duties of past positions, and more emphasis on problem solving, requisite skills, and key achievements.  Companies today want A+ employees who come in early, stay late, and go up and above in every instance.  Describing yourself as anything less is a one way ticket to the discard stack.

There are some new rules that need to be incorporated for a resume to have maximum effect in a highly-competitive job market and tough economy.  Here are some key recommendations for enhancing your resume and creating a high-impact marketing document which will reflect an up-to-date image and enhance your overall marketability:

1-A resume should be focused for a particular job or occupation within a specific industry.  Generic, chronological resumes do not work.  The job today goes to the specialist, not the generalist.  Create a “branded” resume that incorporates relevant keywords, skills, phrases, acronyms, and areas of expertise that are consistent with the occupation or job title that best reflects your number one brand and target position.

2-Drop the Objective and create a Professional Summary. Recruiters know what your objective is when you apply for a position.  Create a 6-7 line summary consistent with the job type you are pursuing.  It should talk about the key skills and areas of expertise you are bringing to the organization.

3-Break out Achievements and Accomplishments separately. Detail your top 3-6 professional achievements in a separate category.  Quantify each one using tangible numbers and percentages where possible.  Describe all major awards and key problems solved with final results and impact on the company’s bottom line.

4-Customize your resume for each application. Work in the top keywords and phrases from the job description directly into your resume (provided you can validate them!).  Focus on the most important duties and responsibilities, usually listed early on in most job descriptions.  Often, the first thing to “see” your resume is a scanner, not a human, and will be looking for the operative keywords that are consistent with the same ones used in the original job description.  Skipping this step is greatly reducing your chances.

5-List your LinkedIn and Twitter account URLs in your contact information section. Give your resume a 2010 look and show employers you are up to speed on new technologies by incorporating your LinkedIn and Twitter web links.  Create a hyperlink to each site in your resume and ensure all information on each site page is up to date.

6-Create brief descriptions of past duties and responsibilities in prior positions. Stay away from lengthy and verbose descriptions of what you were responsible for in past positions.  The rule is 3-5 bullets maximum for each work entry.  Hyperlink each company name so employers can view exactly what sort of business Company X is with a single click.

A new economy and new job market means employing new rules for resume success. Rather than reading as a laundry list of past employers and duties, a resume today needs to read like a marketing brochure describing you as the ideal product and detailing exactly what you will bring to the company to help them solve problems and generate revenue.  It needs to convey the message that you are an A+ employee (most companies already have their fair share of C+ employees and “pikers”) who solves problems and gets things done!  Your resume also needs to be consistent with how we do business in 2010, so create a document complete with web links to prior employers and your professional networking sites.

1999 was a good year.  But 2010 can be even better!  Jumpstart your job search and get your resume noticed.  Make sure you’re playing by the New Rules for Resume Success and soon you’ll be partying like it’s 1999 when the recruiters are calling you once again!

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*****

Donald J. Strankowski is founder and president of Ascend Career and Life Strategies, a career training and professional development firm for businesses, professionals and executives.  He works out of Boulder, Colorado and can be contacted via email at don@ascendcareers.net, or on the web at www.AscendCareers.net

OK, I admit it.  I’m a sports nut.  One of the first things I do in the morning is peruse my favorite sports web sites reviewing scores and looking for breaking news about my favorite teams.  I also like to read the game-by-game odds on who the experts are predicting to win and by how much.  Being the sentimental guy that I am, I always find myself rooting for the underdog. Occasionally, I am rewarded for taking in a “David vs. Goliath” match up as a team that was predicted to get clobbered will rise up and win the game outright.

Be the Favorite, Not the Long Shot in the Job Search

However, when it comes to the job search, being the underdog is rarely a winning proposition.  If we were to head to Las Vegas to place a one dollar wager on YOU winning a job via a posting on a major internet job board, we would probably be offered odds in the 200-1 range.  That means for every one job seeker that applies to a posting on a major job board site then successfully navigates the interview process and is ultimately offered the position, 200 other job seekers are winning their jobs via other methods.  With competition for the best jobs at an all-time high, job seekers today need to employ new tools and strategies for gaining notice and getting hired.

What is Social Media?

One of the most powerful and effective new techniques for uncovering opportunities in today’s ultra-challenging job market is social media. Social media is a communication instrument (media), like a newspaper or a radio, with a social element. In year 2010 web-speak, this would be a web site that doesn’t just give you information, but interacts with you while giving you that information.

There are currently hundreds of social media sites garnering the majority of the web traffic.  While some of these sites fulfill specific needs like keeping in touch with college or high school friends, describing your latest rock climbing adventure, or even showing a video of Scruffy the dog climbing a tree, others cater more to business owners and professionals and can be especially helpful in building a job seeker’s brand and positioning them as an expert at what they do.

Twitter and LinkedIn are the BEST Social Media Sites for Job Seekers

Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers. Twitter can be used two ways in assisting job seekers.

1-     Use Twitter to Build Your Brand: The job today goes to the specialist not the generalist.  In addition, companies are looking for people who can come in, hit the ground running, and fulfill a special set of requirements to solve specific problems.  Thus, companies today are looking for experts as opposed to jack-of-all-trades types.  By sending out regular tweets offering advice about your particular industry or occupation, you are positioning yourself as the expert companies are looking for.

2-     Follow Target Companies, Recruiters, and Other Industry Experts on Twitter:  In today’s highly competitive job market, being first in line when applying for a position is highly advantageous.  Companies and many recruitment firms and staffing agencies are using Twitter to tweet about new openings they are looking to hire for. Being the early bird that catches the worm just might be your ticket to winning an interview. Following certain industry experts will also allow you to keep up with breaking news and current trends regarding your trade.

3- TweetMyJobs.com is an excellent web site for honing in on jobs by location and key vertical.  You can even have new postings sent to your cell or smart phone as soon as they are posted.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site and is mainly used for professional networking. As of October 2009, LinkedIn had more than 50 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries worldwide.  Users of LinkedIn can build a network of solid professional contacts, conduct company research, investigate key decision makers within organizations, and search jobs.  Here are some tips for job seekers when using LinkedIn:

1-     Write a detailed Summary focusing on your number one brand and positioning yourself as an expert in a particular occupation/industry as opposed to looking like someone who is unemployed and wants a job.  Your LinkedIn account should act as your personal “corporate web site” validating and promoting your brand.

2-     Invite and accept invites from only high quality contacts that you trust.

3-     Do not take an “arms race” approach to building your contacts list. Your contacts should be people with whom you’ve done business and can trust.  More is not necessarily better on LinkedIn.

Here is an excellent “LinkedIn 101″ video: http://tinyurl.com/ya9qyfe

Employing a social media strategy to your overall job search plan is simply smart business.  You need to use the same tools employers are using to find candidates and keep yourself on the cutting edge of how business professionals interact.  With more than 80 percent of all available positions going unadvertised, a job seeker today needs a sound plan for uncovering the hidden job market, staying marketable, reaching out to potential decision makers, and keeping up on the latest industry trends.

As you embark on the job search, don’t play the role of the 200-1 long shot. Sure, cheering for the underdog is always fun, but when it comes to your profession, believe in your skills and expertise and employ the techniques that will offer you the best return on your job search ROI.  Always position yourself as the odds-on favorite to win the job!

Donald J. Strankowski is founder and president of Ascend Career and Life Strategies, a career training and professional development firm for businesses, professionals and executives.  He works out of Boulder, Colorado and can be contacted via email at don@ascendcareers.net, or on the web at www.AscendCareers.net

Check out Don’s new book available now on Amazon.com!