Tracking your targets with Google.

Dr.Shruti Bhat, Star formulator and Ace leader within pharmaceutical R&D. Shruti is a specialist with hiTech formulations and quality-by-design.

Shruti brings to you some of her personal experiences and highlights from her reading on topics of personal branding and career development...

In your job search, outside of LinkedIn, I believe Google can be your best friend online!

Google has many tools that can make it easy to find and target the jobs and information you need to run ahead of the pack at the companies you want to pursue.

Used wisely, some of these tools can help you find job postings, company news, contact information and many other valuable pieces of information that can help you set yourself above the crowd.

Here are some ideas to consider:

Do an X-Ray! Google allows you to use it’s search engine not only to search the entire internet, but also to do a search on a specific site alone. This is usually referred to as an “X-Ray” search. In your search string in the Google search box, you can simply specify the site you want to search, using a format like:
site:www.linkedin.com

You can then add whatever additional search terms you may want to add. For example, say you don’t have many connections on LinkedIn yourself, so you don’t get many results when you do a search within LinkedIn’s own search tool. Perhaps you are looking for a company contact in your job search… like an Engineering Manager at Seagate Corp. in the Minneapolis area. You could enter:

site:www.linkedin.com “Greater Minneapolis” “Engineering Manager” Seagate

Among many directory pages and others, you will also find the public profiles on LinkedIn of anyone that has “Engineering Manager” and “Seagate” in their profile that’s registered in the “Greater Minneapolis-St Paul” area. With more sophisticated parameters you can eliminate the non-profile results, however, this can get you started.

You can also do an X-Ray search of specific companies you may be interested in pursuing, to find information on their sites that you are seeking… more on that next.

Set up Alerts! Google Alerts are an excellent way to be made aware of new information that gets posted, as it occurs. Perhaps you are a Programmer that specializes in Java development and one of your target companies is United Health Group (UHG) in the Minneapolis area. You can set up Alerts to notify you of any news that gets published about UHG, and Alerts to let you know as soon as a relevant new position is posted on their site.

For news, you can simply set up an Alert searching “United Health”, and anything posted anywhere with that string will trigger a notification to you.

For jobs, you can set up an Alert using an X-Ray search of their site’s career pages. As an example, if you are looking for Java related position that they post on their own site for Minnesota locations you can set up an Alert string like:

site:careers.unitedhealthgroup.com minnesota java

Most companies post positions on their own site before they are posted on any external job boards, and many times they don’t post a position on external job boards at all. The notification you will get of the new posting will make you aware of it before most everyone else!

You can set up as many Alerts as you’d like, for as many companies as you’d like, and with as many variations of search words as you’d like… be creative! You can also choose whether to have them emailed to you (as they happen, or once per day), or have them sent to Google Reader…

Consolidate your information!

Google Reader is an excellent way to keep track of all this information, and more. Google Reader allows you to keep track of new postings on sites you’re interested in following… like this blog! (Click on the “Subscribe to…” “Posts” icon in the right column of this page) It’s also a great place to direct all of your Google Alerts so that you can read and follow up on them all from one central place. Google Reader receives and posts information as soon as it’s found by Google and keeps you up to date without filling up your email box.

Efficiently finding information from your target company sites, setting up automatic notifications, and reading all the relevant updates easily in one place makes Google an extremely powerful online resource for your job search that most job seekers don’t use. Be ahead of them all by taking advantage of the power available to you!

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Http://www.drshrutibhat.com
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10
Do you have questions for the author?

http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2010/08/tracking-your-targets-with-google.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CareerRocketeer+%28Career+Rocketeer+%7C+The+Career+Search+and+Personal+Branding+Blog+%29

Do You Use LinkedIn to Follow Potential Employers?

Most jobseekers think of LinkedIn as a tool to network with individuals. While LinkedIn is certainly useful for this purpose, it can also provide invaluable information about companies you want to target during your job search.

LinkedIn now allows you to follow all the activity related to a particular company. You can do this by searching for the company on the site and clicking “Follow Company”. This step adds the company’s activity to your news stream on LinkedIn in the same way that adding a connection adds their individual activity. This is an absolutely invaluable tool for keeping track of events at a company you’re targeting.

This information can give you a sense for whether the company is hiring at all and it allows you to see the backgrounds of the candidates who are landing jobs there. It can be frustrating to see who’s beating you out for particular positions but having that information is also priceless for knowing how to position yourself as a stronger candidate going forward. One more bonus: you can tell when someone was hired for a position even if the company doesn’t directly contact or notify you.

The Follow Company feature on LinkedIn also allows you to see how many other people are following that company. If thousands of people are keeping an eye on things, chances are good that you have a lot of competition for open positions there. Additionally, LinkedIn includes very useful information such as the average tenure of employees at the company, the male/female ratio of the staff, and the median age of employees. Larger companies sometimes even indicate which specific universities a high percentage of their staff attended.

The new Follow Company feature on LinkedIn is a great research tool for job seekers trying to find a creative way in to organizations that they otherwise may not have an open door to.

Excerpted from article by Jessica Holbrook Hernandez http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2010/07/do-you-use-linkedin-to-follow-potential.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CareerRocketeer+%28Career+Rocketeer+%7C+The+Career+Search+and+Personal+Branding+Blog+%29

Dr Shruti Bhat at http://thehappenblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/do-you-use-linkedin-to-follow-potential-employers/

Did You Wind Up in a Default Career?

As a career coach and former High Tech manager, I’ve noticed that most people wind up in careers that are completely out of line with their college degrees or interests. When you ask people how they “chose” their careers, many of them answer with something very much like a track through the jungle. They didn’t know where they were going but moving forward was the direction they took. When I ask many college students what career they were headed towards I get two categories of answers:

I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out.
Something in my major (read: I don’t know).

In other words, most of us end up in “default careers”. Meaning we had no intention of that career but due to various circumstances, that’s where we ended up – by default.

I recently wrote about the national statistic I heard on TV this spring that 60% of all workers are dissatisfied with their job. I think this is due, in a large part, to the fact that we give very little effort or thought to the career we would do best in. Collectively we simply don’t know how to identify a career we would love so we go with the time honored tradition of “finding something”. The “finding something” career strategy usually involves bouncing around applying for jobs until some lucky company hires us. Little wonder we’re not so happy at work.

Why am I bringing this up? I am talking about this because 60% of all workers being unhappy in their job make this problem a moral imperative. This has to change. There are too many unhappy people out there working right now and there is some prevention that can take place and a remedy for those in this unhappy group.

There is a reason for how we got this way and there is something we can do about it. I think the genesis of this has to do with how we go about finding our careers to begin with. We put more planning into a 2 week vacation than a lifelong career. The factors that go into the complex soup of job satisfaction are largely ignored. It’s easier to figure out how we want to spend our free time (what little there is of it) than how we spend of our work time (which is most of our life). Figuring out what can constitute a rewarding and nourishing career is not rocket science but it does require some effort. You will not wake up one day and simply know, by magic, what will best suit you.

What needs to be done to prevent default careers in the first place?
At whatever point people are starting to ask the questions about their career, is the time to begin the work of self discovery toward a great career. Self discovery is more than a career assessment test, although it can be thought provoking and add to self discovery. Self discovery should become an ongoing, lifelong pursuit. Self discovery is being in a process of experimentation, exploration and research with the goal of unearthing something that will truly resonate within you. It’s as simple as trying something new a few times to see if you like it well enough to keep doing it. Most everything in existence can be turned into a career and with that much opportunity you need to start as early as possible in your life to understand what will ring your chimes.

How do you pursue self-discovery?
You are essentially finding out what your values are, where your natural inclinations lie, where you build skills easiest and what draws you in to “want” to keep doing it. The best and easiest place to start is by making a list of all the things (not necessarily jobs) that interest you or did interest you earlier in your life. It’s not unlike planning for that 2 week vacation. You think through the things that sound interesting or fun, research them and put it on your itinerary to do. Systematically pursue each item on the list, trying each thing long enough to get beyond the roughness of trying something new. Eventually you will discover what kind of interest that item holds for you. If it doesn’t interest you, move on. But before you do, think through what aspects of it you liked and didn’t like. That learning is key to the direction you take on the following discoveries. While you are in that process, you will discover other related items I call “threads”.

Let those threads go on the list and as you do that you will notice a natural expansion of new things to try. This experimentation can be trying different jobs, pastimes or education. I have seen examples of people who have made a great career and income out of building sand castles – the wisdom here is to not discount anything.

What do you do if you are already in a Default career that you don’t like?
No matter your age, changing careers to something you love will be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. The discovery process is the same. Our culture really does nothing to promote the idea of self discovery, particularly as it relates to a career. In general, most of us have no clue about how to go about selecting a career much less a job. We see very few examples or discussion around us, so we have almost no one to use as a role model for this kind of behavior. We are also collectively impatient with ourselves and others thinking we should automatically know what we want to do when we grow up. That assumption is the farthest thing from the truth. There is nothing automatic about finding the career of your dreams. Making self discovery an ongoing behavior will ensure your personal and professional success. Doesn’t that make it worthwhile?

http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2010/07/did-you-wind-up-in-default-career.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CareerRocketeer+%28Career+Rocketeer+%7C+The+Career+Search+and+Personal+Branding+Blog+%29

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

http://www.drshrutibhat.com/
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10

Do you have questions for the author?

Drug Makers Shed 35,000 Jobs- The New York Times.

Friday, July 2, 2010

The nation’s drug makers have eliminated nearly 35,000 positions in the first half of this year, second only to government in cutting jobs.

Government and non-profit sectors announced 98,776 job cuts this year to date, compared with 34,987 by pharmaceutical companies, and 26,181 by the retail industry, according to a new report by Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm.

The firm noted in a release that the pace of retrenchment has slowed compared to last year, when drug companies cut 51,000 jobs; retail 85,000; and government 102,000. And the report said more employers are confident looking ahead.

Still, the industry faces the prospect of more job losses to support the bottom line as patents expire on prominent drugs within the next year.

Complete report at http://www.challengergray.com/press/PressRelease.aspx?PressUid=141
http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/drug-makers-shed-35000-jobs/


Myth, fabrication and tomfoolery: The stuff of life and law for laid off work force.
By Howard Levitt, Financial Post.

It seems the more dismissal law becomes part of everyday experience, the more misapprehensions exist between employees and employers. Here are a few of the more common ones:

A fired employee is entitled to one month's severance for each year of service. Wrong. An employee is "entitled" to no more than employment standards minimum severance, just a few weeks pay for most workers. A fired employee cannot sue for more unless, despite his best efforts, he remains unemployed beyond that time.

However many years worked, however assiduous that work and however "unjust" the dismissal, employers can get off virtually scot-free if a fired employee is re-employed comparably or the court finds they could have been. But even if an employee remains interminably unemployed, there is no judicial formula.

Length of service is only one of many factors used to determine severance, including age, status, remuneration and re-employability. Many employees get more than one month for each year; even more get less.

An employee cannot be discriminated against. Wrong again. You can hire or fire employees based on their looks, their approach to life, their personality, their height or even whether they wear lipstick.

What you cannot do is discriminate against them based on one of a few factors delineated in the human rights Code, which are race, gender, sexual orientation, colour or national origin. Everything else is open season. It is hardly a secret, and it is a statistical fact, that good looking employees, as well as those with British accents, earn more than the rest of us.

Those who work hard are entitled to promotions or salary increases relative to weaker workers. An employer has the right to be wrong-or capricious. They can withhold salary increases from the meritorious and reward them to their relatives or the laggards.

A strong performer of unimpeachable character and conduct cannot be fired. There need be no cause at all to fire an employee. There is also no appeal mechanism and a court lacks the power to reinstate employees. If an employer improperly evaluates an employee or believes a false allegation, that employee has no recourse when dismissed, other than appropriate severance.

For that matter, if the employer fires an employee by drawing her name out of a hat, as long as she is paid proper severance, she has no other recourse. Even more infuriating, severance entitlement is no greater than that of a mediocre performer.

A worker who is told to work out severance instead of receiving the money, can refuse. If a worker does refuse, he is treated as having resigned. One of the most underutilized weapons in an employer's arsenal is working notice. That is, if an employee is told he is to be terminated six months from that date, it is legally equivalent to dismissing him on the spot and paying six months severance.

Employers tend to be uncomfortable with this option, but not half as much the fired employee is, after all he or she is working away the severance. Often it leads to a reduced offer of severance. But even if that is not the case, the employer is getting value for its severance dollar.

Working out a severance does not work for everyone, especially employees with access to confidential information or considerable customer contact.

A properly drafted non-competition covenant can keep a dismissed employee out of his industry for a year. Only very rarely is this the case. Few non-competition covenants of any length are enforceable because of a series of recent cases.

Such contracts only bind fiduciary employees with significant ability to damage the employer who would be approached by customers and employees even if they did not approach them. And even those employees likely could not be restricted from their industry for more than six months. With respect to the other 98% of employees, non-competition covenants are unenforceable.

Contracts limited to restricting former employees from soliciting customers or other employees, if limited to 12 months or less and restricted to the narrow geographical area in which they worked, are much more likely to be enforceable for those.


Read more:
http://www.financialpost.com/careers/Severance+entitlement/3218553/story.html#ixzz0seFz4Im2

20 Habits of Highly Effective Job Seekers

Even in a down market, job seekers and employees are not powerless or without recourse. In fact, they have more control over their career circumstances than they might.

You Want, Even When No One's Hiring" (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, getthejobbook.com), has developed 20 specific strategies and tactics that consistently generate powerful results for job seekers, even when it seems like no one is hiring.

1. Network, network, network. Continually increase your level of networking and keep expanding your contact database. There is no substitute for connecting with people one-on-one.
2. Seek help. Get career support from a professional. A qualified career coach can better prepare you to land your next position.
3. Read career books and attend career seminars. Being informed about business will keep you "fresh" as a candidate, and helps you consistently improve your career management and job-search skills.
4. Leverage technology. Utilize Web sites and online services to connect with your industry and to build greater visibility. Create a career Web site and reach out through social networking sites such as Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter.
5. Differentiate yourself. Position yourself as an expert by writing articles, giving presentations, or teaching a class. Get involved in professional organizations and assume leadership roles there.
6. Use your time off wisely. Pursue professional development by participating in classes, seminars, certifications and industry conferences.
7. Pursue a temporary, part-time, or contract position. Volunteer, provide pro bono work, take on a consulting contract, or complete an internship or apprenticeship. All these options provide excellent "bridge job" opportunities.
8. Act with speed and urgency. Demonstrate that you're more serious and more determined than the competition. Show up earlier. Arrive more prepared. Move quickly and efficiently. Make an impression by being more responsive and assertive than other candidates.
9. Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, and get plenty of rest. You'll need to be healthy and vital to maintain the pace of an active job search campaign.
10. Be flexible and adaptable. Consider shifting industries and/or being geographically mobile to open-up more career possibilities, even if you would not choose these options under normal circumstances.
11. Improve and enhance all the documents in your career portfolio. Craft a unified package that consistently conveys a highly professional image of yourself. This will include a Resume, a one-page Professional Biography, a collection of powerful Accomplishment Stories, a series of compelling Cover Letters, a page of Professional References, a list of Target Companies, and a 15-second commercial (Positioning Statement).
12. Identify industries that will emerge stronger when the market improves. Research emerging opportunities and niches that will offer career growth, and position yourself to take advantage of these trends.
13. Practice interviewing and negotiation skills. Solicit the help of a partner to role-play with you, and switch roles as needed with the questions and answers. Practice with an audio-recording device, and listen to yourself as you continually improve your performance.
14. Be patient, but persistent. Be persistent, but don't be a pest, as you follow up consistently on every opportunity. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, keep moving forward as you explore every appropriate opening you can find.
15. Focus on tangible results and practical solutions. The primary question in the employer's mind will be, "What can you do for me -- now?" This means that you should quickly identify the employer's most pressing needs and challenges -- and then explain exactly how your relevant accomplishments will allow you to successfully address those issues in the short term.
16. Work from a budget. Instead of going into a panic or worrying that you'll lose everything you've worked for, conduct a detailed analysis of your financial situation and develop a family budget. You may discover that you're in a better financial position than you had thought.
17. Be kind to yourself. There is no longer the same stigma there used to be about being unemployed, as almost every family in America has been touched by layoffs and downsizings. Forgive yourself, forgive your ex-employer, and forgive the world. Move on toward a better career future.
18. Pay extra attention to your personal image. First impressions count. Make a deliberate, consistent effort to present yourself in the best light. Now is the ideal time to take stock of your appearance, and make whatever changes you feel could improve your image -- and your job search results.
19. Watch your attitude. Maintain a positive attitude. Never state anything negative or act desperate. Spend some time each day focusing-in and recalibrating your internal attitude.
20. Be philosophical. Try to find the life lessons and new perspectives in this transition. Commit to yourself that, somehow, you will make this a rewarding and productive experience.

Conducting a successful job search campaign takes energy, discipline, and career support. Despite the pressures many face in today's employment market, job seekers must stay focused on their goals and search smart.

Excerpted from article published at http://www.powerhomebiz.com/News/062010/job-seeker.htm

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Http://www.drshrutibhat.com
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10
Do you have questions for the author?

Knowing “Interview Styles” an essential criteria of career management:

Dr.Shruti Bhat, Leader Pharmaceutical R&D and specialist in hiTech formulation development and quality-by-design, brings to you some of her personal experiences and highlights from her reading on topics of personal branding and career development...

During course of my writing my book on “ Experiences of a job seeker in a depressed economy”, I have interviewed scores of professionals, grad students, senior executives in transition, who volunteered feelers about their experiences, most importantly impressions about their interviewers.

Summarizing my findings, presents, five well- identified interview styles so that next time you are escorted into the interview room you can identify them quickly and react in a way that helps you stand out in a good way-

Style 1. The Careful - This style is found in people who are new to interviewing, are below your level or will be reporting into the role you for which you are interviewing. They show their careful quality by asking really simple questions. Almost apologetic.

Here is an opportunity- To lead the interview and to create raving fans within the interview team. Because “the careful” want to do a good job. But they also are nervous about asking tough questions to their future boss.

So ask them of yourself . One successful technique might be “You might be wondering how I like to lead a team. What I am like to work for”. And then it would give you a feeling like” you were interviewing yourself”. Asking questions that lead to the real concerns that could be answered with ease. And you become more confident as the interview progressed. Feels good?

Style 2. The Brash – Brash is often associated with “young”. And sometimes that is true. Sometimes it is also just someone who feels that being on the interview team gives them the ability to be especially confident. These can be a bit tricky.

Few of my volunteers for the my book interview stated “The last time I interviewed, I was introduced to a person who would be my direct report in the role. He happened to be young. Just a few years out of school. Very smart I could tell. He hit me with question after question. Biting. Almost smirky smile.

I marveled how he could do this to a potential future boss. No fear of ramifications? My strategy with him was to respond with strength and detail. As best I could without playing the “future boss” card. Because I wasn’t yet. And I think that this person wants to see strength in return. A tip I gave myself, oil your conflict resolution strategies, this employee could have the potential to be difficult also to his colleagues ! and thank your stars if there aren’t any complaints waiting for you to tackle them. However, train yourself not to be biased or prejudiced.

Style 3. The Unprepared – Sometimes people get busy the day before or the day of an interview. They may have just been added to the interview team. Or maybe they are just unprepared. They walk in late, can’t find your resume, need time to clean their desk. And finally after a few minutes look up and say “OK, let’s hear about you”.

To their defense, most companies are really bad about preparing their teams (circulating resumes, sharing a job description, and identifying specific hiring objectives). But interviewing is one of the most important roles you can are asked to play. The right new hire is crucial. So the good ones prepare on their own. Interviewing with this group is an opportunity. For you to lead the charge by asking great questions, sharing situations in which you had a big impact and leaving the interviewer feeling like they did a pretty good job. Despite their lack of preparation.

Style 4. The Talker – Some interviewers just like to hear themselves talk. And some really want you to understand the complexities of their product line, industry, department, etc. But it can be a challenge to communicate your unique value when the interviewer seems to be honing their own. I’ve fallen into this trap before as an interviewer when the position is new to our company or when it is early in the interview process. Sometimes those first few interviews are an opportunity for the hiring manager to sound out a few new responsibilities for the position. But a few minutes can last longer if the candidate seems happy to just sit there and listen.

A mutually beneficial process here might be, is to engage the interviewer. To interrupt the flow after a few minutes and ask a question that shows you are listening. But that also allows you to share something about yourself. Something that shows you appreciate the complexity the interviewer is trying to get across. Very few people do this. They are afraid of interrupting.

Style 5. The Heroic - A cousin of the talker, the heroic spends the first 15 minutes introducing you to the strengths of their company and their department. Oh, and they like their own work pretty well too. They will tend to set the bar extremely high for new employees. Both in terms of your dedication and your weekly hours (i.e. “everyone here works 50+ hours because we believe in the cause”).

Now your job is to determine if you believe in it. Because if 50+ is really 60+, you need to decide whether that really fits into your life’s plan.

This style is designed to weed people out. People who aren’t dedicated. People who will complain at the first sign of overtime. While it is hard to get past the bravado, usually a few good questions can help you determine whether this is a place you’d like to work (a great, hard working, close-knit team) or a sweat shop.

Research, research, research well about the company, people, culture, financial strength, HR processes WELL before accepting the offer.

Further reading …

20 habits of highly effective job seekers

http://www.drugsinthemaking.com/19/post/2010/06/first-post.html

Finding a culture fit for career success

http://pharmaceuticalcareerdevelopment.blogspot.com/2010/06/evaluating-cultural-fit-for-success.html

8 ways by which an interview can take a turn for the worse

http://www.drugsinthemaking.com/6/post/2010/05/8-ways-a-job-interview-can-take-a-turn-for-the-worse.html

http://timsstrategy.com/7-interview-styles-youll-face-as-the-candidate/

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Http://www.drshrutibhat.com
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10

Do you have questions for the author?

How to take days off your job search ?

The economy and job market have made a sea change. Things aren’t the same as they used to be. The marketplace has changed. The job market has changed. Now many more people are looking for the jobs that are out there. So it’s critical that you stand out in a crowded market. If you do, you can take days off of your job search.

LinkedIn is one of the best ways to do that and to be successful in finding a job. You can take days off of your job search when you use LinkedIn.

The first step is to join LinkedIn and set up your LinkedIn Profile. Your LinkedIn Profile is your presence on LinkedIn. You can’t do anything until your Profile is up. Your LinkedIn Profile is not the same as your resume. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to simply copy and paste their resumes into their Profile. And make them backwards-oriented like a resume.

Your Profile is a sales and marketing piece for you. And it’s like your personal Web site. Search engines find your LinkedIn Profile when it’s complete, and you’re not limited in space or format the way you are with your resume. It’s the first impression someone has of you, and they decide to connect or not based on what they see in your LinkedIn Profile.

LinkedIn members are helping people in their networks find jobs. For example, the Susan Todd of the NJ Star Ledger wrote on March 15, 2009 about Abby Kohut’s LinkedIn Success Story: “Abby Kohut got LinkedIn. And then she got work. After creating a detailed profile and shamelessly collecting recommendations, the 42-year-old staffing consultant landed contract work with a non-profit organization and a major publishing group.

“The two jobs found me as opposed to me finding them,” Kohut said. “And the people who found me, hired me after barely interviewing me.” When she joined the social networking site LinkedIn, she was looking for a job, but the contract work gives her more flexibility, more variety, more connections. And there’s another benefit: “I don’t have to worry about being downsized,” Kohut said.

Networking online isn’t new, but it’s getting a big boost from the growing numbers of unemployed searching for work with the help of new digital tools. Although more and more adults are joining the social networking site FaceBook, the more staid LinkedIn is still considered the serious site for professional networking. The two are different — think of it as going to a party and going to a work party.

At the end of last year, LinkedIn had 33 million members, and there were signs many were stepping up their activity. The amount of time individuals spent online increased 22 percent since the start of the year and the number of recommendations soared 65 percent, according to Kay Luo, a spokeswoman for LinkedIn.

A recommendation and referral like this definitely helps. Even with a referral, recommendation or LinkedIn Introduction, your LinkedIn Profile still must show that you’re qualified and the best person for the job.

Here’s what happens when a recruiter or hiring manager is looking for someone to fill a position:

They do a search on LinkedIn for qualified candidates based on their criteria, such as job titles, keywords, and geographic location. Then a list of people who meet those criteria comes up in the LinkedIn results list. They skim- and-scan the list of Profiles to find people they want to follow up with, and eliminate those that they don’t want to contact. They choose based on what they see in your Profile.

Imagine what they see. Pages of names, photos (or not) and what I call your professional headline. That’s the few words below your name at the top of your LinkedIn Profile.

How do they select the ones to follow up with? When they skim-and-scan the results list:

1) If there’s no photo, they skip right over the Profile and go somewhere else. Gone.

2) If your professional headline catches their attention and is compelling, they click on your name to see your entire Profile. They skim-and-scan your entire Profile. (They don’t read it.) If they like what they see in the Summary section, they move down to look at your credentials.

3) If they like what they see in your credentials, you go on their list of people to follow up with.

4) If your Profile doesn’t catch their attention and show how you’re the best candidate for the job, they skip over you. You’re out of the running and still in the job pool.

So your LinkedIn Profile has two critical jobs to do for you:

1. Come up in the search results list. Be found.

2. Show that you’re the best person for the job.

Show you have what they’re looking for, and how you stand out from other candidates who do similar things. That means that your LinkedIn Profile must have the best keywords built in. It shows who you are as a person and shows you as someone they want to work with.

And the Summary section must show your “DNA Expertise” – what you’re known for and that differentiates you from other people who are in the running for the same position. If your LinkedIn Profile does these two critical jobs well, you’ll take days off your job search.

Job search strategy series- What further after you have a contact name from Linkedin?

The job search strategy series from Dr.Shruti Bhat's blog will bring articles from several contributing authors; articles that would help a job seeker, whether an executive in transition or a new grad. Read on...

People often tell me they were on LinkedIn, or went to a networking group, or met someone when they were out-and-about and got a name of a potential contact for their job search, but don’t know how to reach them.

“What good is the name without their phone number or email address? It doesn’t do me much good if I can’t connect with them!”

It’s great if you are given a phone number and/or email address with a name, however, with a little creativity and initiative you can certainly find other ways to get in touch. Here are some ideas and techniques to make those connections:

~ Call the main number! Often people forget the simplest and most obvious solution to getting in touch with a new contact… call the company and ask for them! It’s ideal to have a direct-line phone number to the person you’re trying to reach. However, if you don’t, it’s generally pretty easy to find the main company phone number (either from their website online, a phone book, or calling 411), call and ask for the person by name. Generally a phone receptionist won’t put you through to anyone if you ask a general question like “May I speak to the Accounting Manager, please?” However, if you ask for someone by name, they will always put you through. Even if the person works at another company facility than the one you are calling, they generally have the overall company directory and can put you directly through to that person. Call and ask for them by name.

Additionally, if you call after business hours, many companies have an automated answering system with a company directory that will often tell you the extension of the person you are trying to connect to. That’s often a great way to gain the direct-line number of someone.

~ Google! As with so many things… Google is a tremendous resource to find contact information. More than half of the time I'm trying to find contact information, I’m able to do it by searching their name and company name through Google. If, for example, I’m trying to find John Mansky at XYZ Company… I simply search: "John Mansky” “XYZ Company”

I make sure to put his name in quotes to avoid unwanted results like John Smith and Bill Mansky

Scanning down the list of results, I often find some document or site that has their phone number and/or email address. If there are too many results, I may try to narrow the search by trying his name with their web domain. For example: “John Mansky” “xyzco.com”

Their email address is likely to include their web domain, so if the address is “john.mansky@xyzco.com” the search is likely to find it.

If that doesn’t work, I may do a search to find ANY email address at that company to discover what their standard email format is. For example, I may simply search:
email “xyzco.com”

If someone else’s email address pops up that is in a format of 'firstname.lastname@xyzco.com’, for example, I know it’s a very high likelihood that my contact’s address is in the same format. If it’s wrong, their email server will simply bounce the email back to me and no one is the wiser. If it does bounce back, I simply try other common formats like:

firstinitiallastname@xyzco.com
firstname_lastname@xyzco.com
firstinitial_lastname@xyzco.com
…or other combinations.

~ Check emails4corporations! Another great resource to help you find the standard email format for the company where your contact is employed is emails4corporations. Someone has compiled a tremendous list of standard email formats for companies all over the country.

You can find them at: http://sites.google.com/site/emails4corporations

Enter the company name in the search box at the top right corner of the homepage and it will show you the company, email format, address, and phone number. It doesn’t cover every company, however, is a great help if yours is included.

~ Try JigSaw.com! JigSaw.com is probably the worlds largest ‘Rolodex’. It includes the business card information of millions of people. It rarely lets me down and is the last resort resource for me when trying to find someone’s contact information. You can either use it by paying for the service, or for free on a give & take point system. So it take a little money or some effort on your part. However, for me as a recruiter, or you as a job seeker, I believe it’s a very worthwhile resource when you need contact information you can’t seem to find anywhere else.

~ Paid Services. Certainly there are a number of additional paid services (Spoke, ZoomInfo, and others) available online that can provide the information for you as well, however, I’m generally a big fan of “FREE”. It’s pretty rare that I can’t find someone’s contact information through one of the means listed above. Try those and then depending on how badly you need it, a paid service may be worth it.

Generally, I don’t recommend contacting someone directly through LinkedIn’s system. Many people receive a lot of communications through there and have become conditioned to treat them like Spam. It’s generally best to reach them by phone, a professional voicemail, or email first. However, if none of those works, as a last resort, you have nothing to lose by trying the LinkedIn contact system as well.

As always, make sure your communication is professional, well prepared, and succinct!
You can gain more help with that by reading Keys to a great email in your job search! or What to do in an effective networking call!

Be creative, take the initiative, and find the way to connect with those job search contacts!

Reference- http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2010/05/i-got-contact-name-now-what.html

How Can Domino's New Pizza Recipe Help You In Your Job Search?

You've seen them: the Domino's commercials talking up their new pizza recipe. Have you tried it? Well, lots of folks have, and it's changed everything for Domino's, according to an article in USA Today– New Pizza Recipe Did Wonders For Domino's Sales.

Domino's was not doing well. They had a poor reputation and were at the bottom of an already shrinking pizza market in the middle of a recession–not a recipe for success. So what did they do? They bet everything on a brand-new recipe and a brand-new campaign, and not only is it going to keep them in business, it's looking to me like it's going to make them flourish. It was a brave move, and it worked.

So what does this mean for you in your job search?

If your old pizza isn't selling (you're not getting job interviews or offers), then it's not the kind of pizza they're looking for. You've got to be brave…throw that stuff out and come up with something they're going to want. If what you're doing now isn't working, you've got no risk at all in changing it up: get a brand-new resume, try a new style, try a new strategy, ask someone's opinion and take their advice.

If you're having interview problems, think about practising it well or an overall fresh perspective on your style; take advise of well wishers, coach or whatever works for you.

Create a 30/60/90-day plan, and bring it to the interview.

Put together a brag book, and practice presenting it.

Network, network, network....its the sure key to job leads.

Do something different if what you're doing now isn't working.

Not only are you likely to get better results, you're going to have renewed energy for your own campaign.

If Domino's can do it, you can do it too !

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Http://www.drshrutibhat.com
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10

Do you have questions for the author?

Welcome to Dr. Shruti Bhat's Pharmaceutical career development blog-

Dr.Shruti Bhat is a Leader Pharmaceutical R&D and star scientist in hiTech formulation development for over 35 different therapeutic class of drugs moeities. She has launched over 1500 formulations, currently being sold over 65 countries of the world, including US, Canada.

A certain sudden event in my life recently, compelled me to stop and think...about the direction I would like to take...to allow me to do what I truly wish...and let me confess, I am truly happy that event happened in my life...it was universe's best gift to me!

As time passes and we progress in our careers organically...very few people actually bring themselves to a halt and introspect. Is this what I want? Does this make me happy? Do I get quality time to spend for myself, family?

You have only one life to live...is all this job- related stress worth it?

BUT...we are also career minded...we can’t be a recluse and we have ambitions to fulfill. So how to strike a balance between our desires to be a successful professional and also have NO STRESS?

Its said, that, there are simple answers to most of life’s difficult questions- and the answer here is planned career development and personal branding.

The key is to know- what you want ? in what proportions? and in which career path? Once this realization happens then rest is easy. Just follow the Focus-Think- Act- Do- Monitor- Balance cycle.

I am reminded of a poem by William Ernest Henley (1849- 1902), called Invictus-

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Let us take TRUE charge of our lives and career...

This blog is my attempt to share with you all, principles I practise, something that has helped me to be successful and happy, knowledge gained by reading expert’s reviews, books, articles...

I will certainly be interested in knowing your thoughts and what worked for you.

Happy reading...

Disclaimer- The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Http://www.drshrutibhat.com
Expert at leading Pharmaceutical R&D.
Translates innovative concepts to PROFITS.
YouTube Channel : Http://www.youtube.com/user/ShrutiBhat10
Do you have questions for the author?