10 Most Important Steps to Obtain Dream Job

10 Most Important Steps to Obtain Dream Job

I often speak to students and career groups about how to obtain a dream job or reinvent a career.  I have listed some of the most important points from my lectures, with appropriate links to articles, to explain the process.  Be sure to click on the links listed under each step to watch videos and read the articles to get step by step instructions.

1. Define Your Goals:  People fear making mistakes.  Although it can be argued there are no mistakes, only learning experiences, part of avoid mistakes is to have good goals.  The goals must be measurable with timeframes listed for when you wish to achieve those goals.
2. Analyze “You” as the Product:  To get a job, you must showcase your talents by thinking of “you” as the product.  When you are networking and interviewing, you are “selling” a product and that product is you.   Be sure to analyze your online reputation.  You can be sure that companies will check on this.
3. Create a Personal SWOT Analysis:  SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  By creating a personal SWOT analysis, you can work on capitalizing on your strengths and find solutions for any weaknesses or threats.
4. Analyze Your Competition: When you are interviewing, you must remember there are a lot of others that are competing for the same job.  Think of those things that you bring to the table that your competition does not.  What do others have that you need to be working on in the meantime?  Have you done your research?  If an interviewer asks you the question: “Why did you pick our company?” . . . do you have a good answer?  Know the answers to difficult job interview questions.
5. Capitalize on Personality Skills: Part of finding the right job is based on understanding your personality preferences.  Personality tests like Myers Briggs MBTI can be very helpful in leading you to the right job.  It is also important to work on developing emotional intelligence. Find out why employers are placing as much value on EQ as IQ.
6. Analyze Jobs:  Find out what jobs pay:  One of the first steps is to find out what a job is worth.  Consider what types of jobs motivate you.  Check out top 10 ways to find a job or have a job find you.
7. Showcase Your Talents:  Use social networking to get noticed.  Find out how you can use a simple PowerPoint presentation and Camtasia to showcase your abilities.  If you are not on LinkedIn, you should be.  Use Google Docs and LinkedIn to get noticed.  Rev up your business card by adding a QR code to it.  Avoid putting these top 10 wrong things on resumes.
8. Ace the Interview:  Once you are able to obtain an interview, use personality skills to wow them.  Deliver information in the job interview based upon understanding introverts and extroverts.  Keep in mind the proper answer to tough interview questions.
9. Follow up on the Interview:  Always follow up with a thank you note.  It is important to stand out from the crowd and having manners is very important.  It is important to realize that millennials have unique job expectations and may not come across as respectful at times.
10. Use what You Have Learned to Succeed: Continue to use the things you have learned in order to obtain the job.  Don’t stop setting goals.  Stay connected through social networking in case the job doesn’t work out.

Related articles

• Increasing Motivation, Right vs. Left Brain, MBTI and Who Will Rule the World (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)

How to Use QR Codes on Your Resume and Business Cards

QR codes are the latest thing in marketing.  They are in the newspapers, on billboards and on just about every kind of marketing material you can imagine. Now you can utilize this amazing new technology to make your business card and/or resume stand out from the rest.  This is an innovative way to show prospective employers that you are tech savvy.  It also can redirect them to important information on your website that you cannot include in your resume. 

Here is an example of how to put one on your business card. 

Anyone with a smartphone that has an app for reading QR codes can easily point their phone at your card and find out more information about you.  If you don’t have a QR reader app on your phone, they are easy to download from sites like iTunes and they are free.  I use QR Reader for iPhone.  Once you have the app on your phone, open it, and point the phone’s camera at the square on my card.  See how it directs you to a site. 

The QR codes are simple to create.  Check out this article:  how to create your own QR codes.

Here is an example of how to include them on your resume:

 
If you used your reader to scan these codes listed here, you can see they each will send you to a different site.  You may just want to send them to your LinkedIn page or some other website that showcases your abilities.  You could create a presentation in Google Docs or on YouTube that would make you stand out from the crowd.  If you have always felt that you could get that job if only they could see you, now is your chance.  Just be careful to create quality content on the site where you direct potential employers. 

To see QR codes in action, check out this video about how QR codes are changing the way people shop:

Related articles

• How to Use Google Docs and Linkedin to get a Job
• Using QR Codes for Business Promotion
• QR Codes:  Why You Should Be Using Them
• Marketers Target Impatient Customers Through QR Codes 

Top 10 Ways to Find a Job or Have a Job Find You

With the current job market, people are looking for unusual ways to stand out in the crowd.  I recently gave a presentation at a local university where I explained the job searching tips I discuss in this article.  To see that actual live presentation, click here.

If you are not utilizing some of the following ways to showcase your talents to prospective employers, you may be missing the boat.  Here is my top 10 list of things you need to be doing if you are looking for a job.

1.  Research Top Career Sites like Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. Look for sites specific to the industry in which you want to work.  For example, there are pharmaceutical-specific sites like Medzilla or higher educational-specific sites like HigheredJobs.  Update your information with each of these sites and set up searches so that jobs are sent to you as they become available.  

2.  Utilize Camtasia and PowerPoint to showcase your abilities.  If you know how to create a PowerPoint presentation, then it can be quite simple to use a software package like Camtasia to have voice-over capabilities to make your presentation have more depth.  These presentations can be showcased on many different sites including your blog or website if you have one.  One of the best places to showcase your talents with the final presentation product is through Youtube. For an example of one I’ve made, click here.

3.  Utilize Youtube to present “you” as a viable product.  If you have created a video or a Camtasia/PowerPoint presentation mentioned previously, Youtube is the place to upload it for maximum exposure.  If you have a skill that is visual such as ability to work in Photoshop, you can create print screens of your work and incorporate them into your presentations. 

4.  Google Docs is very much like PowerPoint but it can be seen by people on the Internet as well as be imported into your Linkedin Profile. To see an example of one I have created, click here.

5.  Prezi is also similar to PowerPoint in that it is presentation software.  The big difference is how it displays your information. This web-based program can show things in a non-linear fashion.  If you haven’t had a chance to view a Prezi presentation, check one out by clicking here.

6.  Blogging is a great way to get your presence known on the Internet.  Sites like WordPress are free and easy to set up.  You can link your blog to several other networking sites to capture the attention of those on Facebook, Twitter and many more sites.

7.  LinkedIn is probably one of the best sites you can use to get exposure to people and showcase your talents.  Utilize their Q&A area to become an expert.  Sign up for groups to meet others that could hook you up with opportunities.  Import your Google Docs, WordPress blogs and other information to showcase your abilities.  Tie your status line into Twitter to get more exposure.

8.  Facebook is also an important place to network. You can create a professional page for your work or display your products that you are promoting. 

9.  Twitter can also be a useful way to have others learn about what you are doing professionally.  Be sure you tie in your other sites links to Twitter.  Use programs like bit.ly to shorter any web addresses to fit your message on Twitter.

10. Old Fashioned Networking is still important.  Always have your business card with you.  Talk to everyone you know and talk to people you don’t know.  If you are sitting by someone on an airplane or standing in line to buy something, you just might find that the person you meet has connections.  Have your business card ready!

For more articles to help you, see:

• How to Use Google Docs and LinkedIn to get a Job
• What is Prezi and How Does it Compare to PowerPoint
• How to Get a Job Marketing You as the Product
• How Your Job Satisfaction May Be Based on Your Personality Type
• 5 Ways to get a Job Through YouTube
• Using Video on YouTube to Promote Yourself 
• 6 Steps to Using Linkedin to Get That Job
• Get a Job and Get Noticed By Taking Full Advantage of LinkedIn’s Capabilities 
• How to Reinvent Your Career Interview
• Time for a New Career? Change the Daily Grind to a Job of Your Dreams

What is Prezi? How Does it Compare to Powerpoint

I use Powerpoint on occasion.  In fact, I used it for a presentation last night.  However, there is another program out there that could give Powerpoint a run for its money.  If you haven’t seen Prezi yet, I highly recommend checking it out. 

Prezi differs from Powerpoint in that it is a web-based program that allows you to create more of a canvas presentation instead of a sequential slide presentation. Think non-linear. It allows you to incorporate not only text and pictures, but videos and other presentation objects.  You can create your presentation online and then download the final product so that you don’t require an internet connection to display the presentation.

Students and professors can get this application for free.

Related Articles

• Prezi just got even cooler. (socialfish.org)
• Prezi Gives Slideshows Polish and Pizazz (ybpguide.com)
• Hate PowerPoint? Want Something More Portable & Collaborative? Check Out Prezi. (networksolutions.com)

Get a Job and Get Noticed By Taking Full Advantage of LinkedIn’s Capabilities

With the release of my new book, How to Reinvent Your Career: Make Money Doing What You Love, I have been talking with a lot of people about ways for job seekers to get noticed. If you are currently in the market for a new job, don’t under estimate the importance of utilizing sites like Linkedin.  In a radio interview I did yesterday, talk show host, Anna Banks, and I discussed the value of Linkedin for the job seeker.  To listen to that interview, click here.  If you have not had a chance to take full advantage of what LinkedIn has to offer, take a moment to check out some of the links provided in this article to help you increase your exposure on their site to get noticed by prospective employers.

LinkedIn

Website:	linkedin.com
Location:	Mountain View, California, United States
Founded:	May 1, 2003
Funding:	$103M

Information provided by CrunchBase

Southcoasttoday.com reported, “LinkedIn has become the new resume, so the importance of it from that regard cannot be understated for job seekers. Recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn as their primary research tool. Job seekers should ensure that their LinkedIn site tells their story well, uses key words that are likely to be searched, and includes a downloadable resume using a tool such as Slideshare, which is available on LinkedIn”

I personally also recommend considering importing presentations from Google Docs into your LinkedIn profile to showcase your talents.  To see how to do this click here. 

How big is LinkedIn?  According to Bakersfield.com “LinkedIn boasts of 80 million members in more than 200 countries. A recent post on Mashable.com notes the growing number of places recruiters are posting jobs, with LinkedIn at the top of the list. ”

If you are interested in reading more about Linkedin and ways to use it to find a job, check out some of these articles:

Monitoring Your Online Reputation

Using Keywords to Optmize Your Linkedin Site

LinkedIn’s New Signal Program

How to Find a Job on LinkedIn

How to Look Amazing on LinkedIn

Asking People to Join You on LinkedIn

The Top 5 Ways You Should Be Using LinkedIn to Find a Job

I am always on the lookout for articles about careers, social networking and education.   I hit the trifecta when I discovered Linkedin was offering Career Explorer for graduates.  TechCrunch recently a very interesting article they posted about the use of LinkedIn for students needing help with their career path.  The following is an excerpt from that article:

LinkedIn is launching a new data-focused feature, called LinkedIn Career Explorer, that provides college graduates with insights from other LinkedIn members to help them visualize a career path.

Career Explorer leverages data from the professional social network’s 80 million members to help students visualize and map successful career paths in a variety of industries. The product also shows college students job opportunities and salary information, the type of education and experience required, and will indentify people who can help them find these jobs.

So students can specify a type of job that they want to pursue or the company they want to work for and LinkedIn will show professionals who have succeeded in similar endeavors. Students can also access the best contact within their networks for certain fields or companies, and LinkedIn will recommend job openings.

The new feature will lead students to the Company Profiles (LinkedIn now has over 1 million profiles on the network), and encourage users to “follow” those companies to receive updates, including job postings, new hires and more.

Career Explorer is currently being rolled out to students at 60 universities in the U.S. and will eventually expanded to users from other educational institutions. The feature seems fitting for the platform and will no doubt provide a unique way for college students to see the career paths of those who have reached success in particular industries. Also, Career Explorer is a way to attract college students (and perhaps even ambitious high school students) as members of the community and perhaps gain loyalty among this age group.

To read the complete article click here.