Sunday, May 31, 2020

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page for SEO

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page for SEO LinkedIn is an invaluable tool for many recruiters. Not only is it the perfect network to source and connect with talent, but its also a really useful platform for marketing your brand and expanding your reach, no matter what industry. Setting up a LinkedIn page for your company is definitely worthwhile if youre looking to enhance your companys presence online. Along with  building exposure for your business, it also allows you to engage your followers by sharing company updates and relevant content, which is essential for building a rapport with your target audience and expressing who you are as a brand. To get the most out of your  companys presence on LinkedIn, its important that your page can be found and to achieve this you must ensure that you have optimised it for SEO. Here are 3  tips you should follow to boost your pages search ranking both on and off of LinkedIn, courtesy of LinkedIn  themselves. 1. Include relevant  keywords Your company page can be found by LinkedIn users searching by name and also for keywords, so its important that you fill in all of your company information and include plenty of strong  keywords in your company description that will attract and boost discovery by your target audience. Google search previews will display up to 156 characters of your company page  in search results, so make sure you kick your description off with  all of the most important information, that clearly communicates who you are and what you do. Make sure your description and company image is consistent with your other social media pages so that you can maintain a consistent brand for your business. 2. Place a link to your company page on your website The more times the link to your LinkedIn company page is shared, the higher it will rank in searches. The best way to give your company page a boost is to encourage employees to keep their LinkedIn profiles up to date, as by listing their experience within the company a link back to your page will be added to their profile. You may also wish to share a link to your LinkedIn page on your company website, blog or other social media platforms. 3. Share relevant content Sharing relevant content with your LinkedIn network on a regular basis is a great way of building an online presence and engaging your followers. This is the ideal place for you to share any of your own blog posts or creations. Alternatively, you can  share other interesting content from external sources that you feel would be of interest to your audience. For the best results, you want to update your page as frequently as possible so that you retain your followers interest. By  encouraging interaction on your updates, the reach of your posts will expand with each like or comment you receive. These are not the only benefits of sharing content however, as it can also help to boost  your  ranking in search results.  Each time you share content, it will be added to your public page, allowing Google to index it and the higher the engagement level you receive, the higher  your search ranking.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Ways to Help Write Your Resume Online

Ways to Help Write Your Resume OnlineIf you're stuck in a dead end job and trying to find ways to break out of it, then you need to find ways to help write your resume online. Some people can take a really long time to write a resume, but with the right guide and some tools, you can get it done. After all, getting a job is a lot more than a resume and you should take advantage of the tools available to you to do it.The first thing that you need to do is to learn how to start writing a resume. You have to know what steps to take and when to take them. You can't rush this part of the process and if you do, then you will get lost. So, make sure that you take your time and don't rush it at all.Once you know what to do, you then have to find the tools that will help you do this. One of the best things about the internet today is that there are hundreds of websites that will give you tools to help you write your resume. All you have to do is follow the links that are provided to these site s.Most of these sites offer free tutorials and samples that you can use, so make sure that you check out these before you spend any money. A lot of the tools that are offered are designed to help you streamline the process and make it easier for you to write your resume online. These can include tools that will help you format your resume and make it more appealing to the employer.There are also some online training programs that will help you learn how to write a resume online and how to use these to help get your foot in the door. You can use these courses to learn more about writing resumes and how to make them more successful. You can also get online training if you want to learn more about the resume and what to include on it.You can also use these programs to find different types of resume writing programs that are available to you. For example, if you want to write a cover letter then you will need to find a cover letter writing course. If you want to learn more about online marketing then you will have to find a course in this area.When you find these courses, it is important that you follow the instructions that are given to you carefully study the materials that are provided to you to help you to write your resume online. Make sure that you can work through the material properly and correctly and that you can get all of the information that you need to get started. After all, it is going to be your resume that will be reviewed by the person who will be hiring you so you need to make sure that you know what you're doing.Now that you know that you can help write your resume online, it is time for you to find the best tools and online training that will help you get it done. You can do this by using the resources that are available today. All you have to do is learn about them and then use them to write your resume online.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Why Its Important to Forgive and Forget

Why Its Important to Forgive and Forget I had a real scare the other day.  My 3 year old daughter, Isabel, lost her balance and fell from an 8-feet-high rope ladder head first.  I was a few steps away, screamed, but couldnt reach her in time.  She hit the dirt on the side of her head and right cheek.  Luckily, her head does not seem to be injured.  Besides a shiner on her cheeks, she was just super scared. Why am I telling you this?  As I reflect on this experience over and over again in the 24 hours after her accident, I realized a distinct difference between how kids handle something like this vs. adults.  We as adults can better achieve career success if we behaved more like kids when we stumble and fall in our life or career forgive and forget!. We are all imperfect.  We all make mistakes in our careers or can be unfairly treated by someone at work.   Can you think of such a time when this happened to you?  I can think of a few.  Now I ask you, how long did you hold on to that experience when you metaphorically stumbled and fell a little in your career?    For many of us, its months even years where we blamed ourselves or others for what happened.   Forgive and forget is far from our minds. Well, it took Isabel about 20 minutes to get over probably the most scary experience of her life and basically move on as if nothing happened.   I know she will want to climb another rope ladder next time she sees one.   I think most kids are like that.  I think this is why we always say kids are resilient and they can learn so fast so quickly.  They dont hold onto negative baggage or blame, so they can always be in the next moment 100% absorbing that experience.   It didnt even occur to Isabel to blame me who didnt catch her or that other kid who stepped on her finger before she fell.  She just dealt with the accident and moved on once she felt better. It seems so simple yet a lot of us adults lose that ability to be resilient forgive and forget once we grew up.  I still play the scene in my head today and want to blame myself for not catching her or blame the parents of the kid that stepped on her finger. But I am catching myself.   I realize every moment I hold onto any bad past experience is a moment I am not 100% in the present learning, evolving.  The same applies to bad experiences we may have had at work. Let it go forgive either yourself or others and forget it from your memory as soon as possible.  Whatever it is, its in the past.  Anytime we re-live it in our head even if we felt we were wronged is another way we continue to be victimized by it.  Imagine how much more capacity we have to learn and achieve career success if our heads were rid of past crap. So I say, stop yourself if you start reliving past career mistakes.   Forgive and forget is a key skill to support your future career success.  We are all imperfect and unfortunately sh*t happens sometimes.  The best way to deal with it is to learn your lesson and move on, so you can experience every new moment with freshness and 100% of focus. Good luck.  I look forward to your thoughts.   I am always in your corner. Lei

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

7 Tips for Writing a Killer Executive Resume

7 Tips for Writing a Killer Executive Resume Having reviewed and written thousands of resumes over the years, first as a recruiter  and now as a professional brand builder, I’ve noticed a significant gap between what  most management resumes include, and what recruiters and hiring managers actually  want to see. I’ve spent years working to close this gap, perfecting the modern resume by leveraging  recruitment, branding, and marketing principles to raise the bar and enable my clients to  win in the rapidly changing modern job search market. With competition for top posts higher than ever, your goal in preparing your resume is to  communicate a clearly defined brand promise, which leaves no doubt about the value you  bring to the table. If you’re a management professional, here are 7 resume tips which will set you apart from  your competition. 1. Make me fall in like with you. We’ve all met those people everyone wants to see succeed. Your resume’s job is to  cement your position as that person, ensuring the recruiter, hiring manager, and everyone  else is rooting for your success. Think of your resume as your own diplomatic envoy, going forth into unknown  organisations to lay the groundwork before your official visit. While your resume has to  communicate the skills and competencies required for the job, it has an even bigger job  which most candidates never consider: building a team of champions, and getting  recruiters and hiring managers on ­side to support your candidacy above all others. The key to doing this is being likeable, and while it takes time and practice to master the  art of putting personality to paper, the best place to start is with a Professional Summary  section. Forget the “objectives” section from decades past, and tell me a story about who you are,  what you do, and what makes you different. Write in the first person, using “I” language to  make it relatable, and mix up the content with information about your story, relevant  keywords, and your professional approach and leadership style. 2. Know your key messages. Think of all the ways you’re communicating your personal brand on a daily basis: sending your resume and cover letter for a job; sharing your thoughts and experience via social media or blogs; networking at a conference; just chatting with other parents at your son or daughter’s swim class. Now imagine how powerful it would be if you always said the same thing. Even better:  what if others â€" your colleagues, clients, and recruiters â€" started describing you in the  same way? There’s not as much pressure on early career professionals to know their key value  because it’s understood that they may still be discovering it. Management professionals,  however, need to be able to communicate what makes them different. This is where key  messaging comes in. Skilful use of key messages is one of the most effective ways to launch you from  candidate to thought leader, but it takes time and a concerted effort. If you’re just starting  to build your professional brand, take the time to define your key messages before you  write your resume, using the following questions to guide you: What drives you? What makes you different from other candidates or leaders in your industry? What’s your professional mantra? What are the underlying themes supporting your success? Once you have a clear understanding of the value you add, communicate it throughout  your resume and the other platforms that support your professional brand: cover letters,  LinkedIn, social media posts, websites, and elevator pitches. 3. Less is more. Most of the thousands of resumes I’ve reviewed over my career have taken a full meal  deal approach to communicating experience, with details about day- ­to ­-day duties taking  up most of the page. This approach works for early and mid ­career professionals who are expected to execute  as part of their job. For management professionals, however, it distracts from what  recruiters really want to know: role mandate, strategic priorities, and scope, as well as  how you met your targets, contributed to organisational objectives, and applied strong  commercial acumen to add value. Replacing the full meal deal with a taster approach is much more effective â€" think four or  five bullet points for duties, and four or five relevant accomplishments. This delivers a  powerful, undiluted message showcasing your skills, experience, and ability to meet key  performance indicators. It’s also much harder to execute. When every word matters, use the first bullet point to  describe the role mandate and strategic objectives, followed by several bullets that  communicate role scope and remit, such as size of team and department, PL or budget  accountability, and reporting and business partnering relationships. 4. When in doubt, spell it out. Whereas some recruiters specialise by industry or function, many are generalists ­  particularly at the management and executive level. A common complaint among candidates is that recruiters don’t have enough specialised  knowledge about the role or industry, and to a large extent this is a fair observation. Like journalists, non- ­specialist recruiters focus on building a knowledge base that’s an  inch deep and a mile wide. In other words, they know just enough about a lot of different  industries and functions. For professionals at all career levels, it’s wise to stick to common business language  rather than specialist jargon or acronyms. Don’t assume the recruiter will know you have  particular skills, competencies, or knowledge simply by seeing your job titles and  education. And don’t assume they’ll know what it is, even if you list a technology or  process name. For management professionals, it’s important to keep the main body of the resume at that  30,000 ­foot level, focusing on role mandate, strategic priorities, and scope. Add technical  information â€" where jargon and specialist terminology typically shows up â€" in a summary  the end. Take it one step further by listing skills in a functional group, such as programming  languages or project management methodologies. This way, you communicate your  qualifications without forcing the recruiter to do extra research, which may be a deciding  factor in whether your resume moves forward. 5. Show me, don’t tell me. There’s a fine line between including the SEO ­-friendly keywords you expect the recruiter  to look for, and using hackneyed terms that are so overused, they’ve lost all meaning. Resumes are notorious for being laden with clichés, and management professionals who  operate at a high ­-level are often the worst offenders for relying upon stale, high ­-level  terms like “driving success.” When every word matters, you need to replace non- ­specific clichés with specific details,  facts and figures, and examples. The best rule I’ve come up with is to apply this classic  piece of writing advice: show, rather than tell. In practice, this means expanding on phrases such as “worked to achieve positive  commercial outcomes” by explaining what working and positive outcomes really meant in  that context, as in this example: “Allocated human, financial, and manufacturing assets to increase factory output and  profitability, enabling the business to meet sales demand, improve customer satisfaction,  and capture increased market share from key competitors.” Be as specific as possible, and after you’ve completed your first draft, go back through  each and every bullet point, asking yourself, “Did I really define what that means?” 6. Read between the lines. The world’s best brands know that design, presentation, and experience matter as much as the product itself.  While content is king, when it comes to your resume, the formatting, details, and overall  experience often make up the “queen” ­ and we all know that she often rules the  household. Consider this: I once had a candidate fax his resume to me. In 2013. For a tech role.  His candidacy didn’t move forward, largely because his delivery was so out of touch with  what the client needed: an early adopter comfortable with the latest technology. In my experience, many management professionals are playing by the same rules that  governed the hiring process during their early career years. Practices that were expected  15 years ago no longer apply, and can actually hurt your candidacy by making you look  old fashioned, or open you up to silent age discrimination. Don’t send a physical resume, unless it’s specifically requested. Remember that old gem of advice to print your resume on heavy, cream paper and drop it off in  person? It’s long dead. Most recruiters need an electronic version, which allows  them to search for key words and share with their team and client. Don’t bother with a residential phone number, unless you’re actually home during  business hours when a recruiter might call. List your mobile number, and change  your message to indicate it’s a personal and confidential voicemail box so the  recruiter can confidently leave a detailed message without worrying about prying  ears. Choose your email address carefully. Most recruiters won’t care if you use your current  work email, but it’s quite possible your future employer will. Skip straight past  options like Gmail and invest in a personal domain name and email address, like  ian@ianthompson.com, which immediately increases your credibility as a modern,  tech ­ savvy manager. Cull your technology skills to include relevant, current software only, forgoing a laundry  list of every technology you’ve ever used. Think long and hard before listing  â€œMicrosoft Office” as a skill, as it is a given that you know how to use word  processing software. The exception is Microsoft Excel: if you have advanced Excel  skills that allow you to manipulate and analyse large data sets, it’s worth listing. Use a modern font and design, staying far, far away from Microsoft Word templates. If  you’re not confident with basic design principles, hire a designer, or better yet  engage a personal branding agency to lead you through the end ­-to- ­end process. 7. Think beyond your resume. The days of being good enough are long gone. Things that used to make management  professionals stand out, like an MBA, professional designation, or experience in top tier  organisations, often form the bare minimum today. Conducting comprehensive internet searches for senior candidates is now standard  practice, with recruiters looking for anything that detracts from or reaffirms what you said  in your resume. If you don’t know what recruiters will find, it’s time to start paying  attention. A well ­executed personal brand strategy is your greatest opportunity to influence  recruitment outcomes in 2015. Imagine how powerful it would be if a recruiter received  your resume and Googled you, only to find:  a personal, professionally ­designed website, with engaging copy that tells your story,  and a blog that positions you as a thought leader; news results with trade and popular media mentions, both as an expert to journalists  and a guest author in key publications; a robust social media presence that gives insight into who you are and what you do,  positioning you in a way that aligns with the cultures of your target organisations; professional portraits that portray you as an approachable and competent leader.  Fair or not, the candidates who have the most success in job search are the ones who  are the best at marketing themselves. While your resume is a critical tool in the job search toolbox, it’s only one of many tools  you should be using to communicate your value as a management professional. Author: Irene McConnell runs Arielle Careers,  Australia’s #1 executive personal branding agency. They specialize in  crafting executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles and digital career assets. Photo credit:  EDHAR

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Tips on Writing Objective in Resume

Tips on Writing Objective in ResumeTips on writing objective in resume are really very important to fulfill your objective in writing a resume. However, to have them does not mean that you need to use them as a guideline.Using these tips is one way to ensure that you are able to write the resume that is right for you. This is something that all job seekers should understand since most of the time, their resume is what will decide whether they get the job or not. One of the best tips on writing objective in resume is to know the specific career objective that you want in your resume.The career objective in a resume is the part that lists the job responsibilities that the applicant has. For example, when someone is applying for a teaching position, the objective for the job is to become a certified teacher. This means that they want to work as a teacher and have authority over other people and other teachers. This is what you should include in your objective.In writing a career objecti ve in resume, you will need to know the exact career you want to go into. This is so that you do not just list the most common jobs. A lot of times, you will also need to list how much experience you have with the specific career you are going into. This is necessary because some positions are open only to certain people while others may be open to everyone.As mentioned before, the first thing you should look at when trying to write a career objective in resume is the specific career you want to go into. For this reason, if you are trying to find a job as a flight attendant, for example, the goal of the objective should be to become a certified flight attendant.The next thing you should look at when writing a career objective in resume is how much experience you have in the career you are trying to go into. This means that you should list any amount of hours you have done in the specific career and then you should also list the specific jobs you have done.There are a lot of places t hat you can get information on writing a career objective in resume. You will be able to find tips and examples of how this is done online. These are great since this way you will be able to see how a career objective in resume is actually written.The main thing to remember when looking at the tips on writing objective in resume is that you should be able to describe what it is that you want in your resume. This means that you should not just put your goals in there but you should also include the details of how you are going to achieve them. This is the best way to ensure that your resume is not only written well but it is also written how you want it to be.