By Karen J. Reiff, MCC, ACRW, JCTC (Guest Blogger)
With my head full of ideas, I share my favorite take-aways from the recent Career Thought Leaders Conference for job-seekers:
- You must grow your own muscles – a coach can assist you, but you have to do the lifting
- Recruiting is broken; your own job search isn’t. Monster and Career Builder fundamentally ruined the job search process.
- Run your career like a business- think more like the plumber: I am the expert you need
- Create dragon-slaying stories: “I came, I saw, I conquered”
- Branding is YOUR responsibility – the narrow your brand, the better
- You need the right tools to conduct a successful job search
- Tools include: creative, accomplishments-based resume, cover letter, bio, complete LinkedIn Profile AND a referral-based job search strategy.
- Black holes really do exist- every time a job seeker posts a resume to an online job posting, the likelihood that it will fall into the big black hole is extremely high
- Having a consistent online identity is essential to successful career management, and if you do not know your social media strategy, you might as well give it up
- Career coaches are now strategy consultants – hire one!
- And…..a bonus: figure out your superpowers, accomplishments and unique value proposition!
Want to learn more? Check out Karen’s upcoming MSU LENS Professional Series Webcasts.
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Any form of career communication should reflect the very best YOU. As a strategist, Karen specializes in crafting your unique career story— whether the format is resume, cover letter, personal brand statement, LinkedIn profile, career biography, interview talking points, or more.She also specializes in coaching you to be completely confident, whether it’s interviewing, negotiating, preparing for a “meet-and-greet, or how to express your unique value in a sentence or two.
Credentials include:
Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) | Master Career Counselor (MCC)
Certified Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) | Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF)
Licensed Professional (Career) Counselor (LPC) | Published author and blogger
Karen takes the time to uncover your strengths, personality, accomplishments and goals, and transform them into tools for your career management toolkit. She provide products/services designed to help you get the interview, get found on LI, easily communicate in interviews, andhelp you clarify your personal brand and unique value to recruiters and employers.
Karen offers a wide range of services for all motivated job seekers at any stage in their career: newly graduated, mid-career transition, returning to work, or career change. Having been a highly successful career management coach and strategist for over 20 years, people know Karen as inspirational, high energy, and creative. She likes to think of herself as the great connector-of-your-dots, with the ability to translate your thoughts and words with impact and results for you.
Karen received her Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University, and her Master’s Degree from Michigan State University.She is an international consultant, and avid runner, bicyclist, cross-country skier, and fitness junkie.
Karen—The resume strategist—can be reached @ Karen@theresumestrategist.comor kjreiff@gmail.com
(The opinions and views expressed throughout this blog are of the writer(s), and may not be the official views and opinions of Michigan State University.)
This blog post was originally featured at: http://theresumestrategist.blogspot.com/2014_12_01_archive.html and has been used by permission by the author.
