The details were entertaining, including candidates who:

• listed “God” as a reference (though without any phone number)
• sent a 24 page resume to detail a five year career
• included a personal email address “lovesbeer“
• listed “Master of Time and Universe” under his experience.
• insisted that any new employer allow him to bring his pet monkey to work

Coincidentally, the same day that I read the article in The Telegraph, I received an email from the CEO of a local technology company who forwarded what may be the single worst resume I’ve ever read. (click on the image to view in all its glory). The resume is reproduced exactly as it was received, with only names and phone numbers excised.

As appalling (and amusing) as this singular resume disaster is, job seekers can learn a number of valuable lessons from its mistakes.

1. Pick a font size and format and stay with it. It’s expected that your name at the top of the resume will be larger than the rest of your copy, but you should not mix font sizes and justification throughout the resume. It’s distracting, visually disorienting and unprofessional. And, for most resumes, 12 point copy should be large enough.
2. Have someone else proof your resume before sending it out. This resume has dozens of spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors that could have been corrected easily by an attentive proofreader. I know employers that will trash any resume that contains errors, believing that any job seeker who doesn’t pay attention to the details of their resume won’t pay attention to the details of their job.
3. Procure a professional email address. Who would have thought it necessary to admonish job seekers not to include email addresses like “bonglover@gmail.com” or “dazednconfused@aol.com” on their resumes? This is your personal billboard, folks. You don’t want to broadcast your personal peccadilloes or your weakest personal attributes, even if you mean them in jest. Assume that every prospective employer is devoid of any sense of humor and include a direct email address consisting of “yourname@site.com“. You can’t go wrong with that.
4. Lead with your qualifications. I’m not sure what resume genius first suggested to lead your resume with your personal objective, but it’s lousy advice. Employers aren’t interested in your personal goals, but in the value you can bring to their organization. What are your strengths? What specific qualifications do you possess? What value are you capable of demonstrating? If you want to grab their attention, you need to appeal to their wants, not yours.
5. Tell a story with each job listing. Employers don’t want to know what tasks you performed, they want to know what you accomplished. And they want to know that you are aware of the difference. There are no unimportant jobs. Every job contributes to the organization’s goals in some way. Do you understand how you contributed? Did you apply yourself with care and attention? Did you demonstrate your commitment and work ethic? Tell us how.

And one final thought… don’t just shotgun your resume out to dozens of prospective employers (as this worst resume candidate did) hoping that it will get attention from one of them. It makes you look desperate and incompetent and may get attention, but not in the way you intend.

The transition from sales mode to negotiation mode will likely be jarring, but you can proceed with confidence as long as you prepare yourself for this brief but critical period of your job search.

1. Proceed with confidence. Companies don’t proffer job offers unless they’re eager to have you join their organization. Once they’ve made their decision to bring you on board, they’re as motivated as you are to complete the entire hiring process. They’re highly unlikely to change their mind just because you don’t leap at their initial offer.
2. Take your time. Upon receiving your offer, convey your thanks and immediately ask them for a couple of days to consider the details of their offer. Few people accept an offer in the instant that it’s offered, so your request for a brief amount of time will be expected and will provide you with the time necessary to evaluate their initial offer.
3. Know what you want. Only you know what combination of salary, vacation, benefits, training and workplace amenities are acceptable to you. If the offer doesn’t meet your minimum expectations, you’re faced with two choices: lower your expectations or plan your negotiation strategy to achieve your goals.
4. Negotiate gently. After a lengthy courtship, the last thing that either party wants to for the relationship to degenerate into a series of combative offers and counteroffers. Both of you are still in the ardor stage and neither wants the relationship to derail, so this isn’t the time to issue ultimatums. Instead, ask for the things you want without ever suggesting that you won’t accept the job if you don’t get them. “Would it be possible…” or “Could you…” or ‘Other companies I have been talking to have offered, is it possible….” are non-threatening ways for you to ask. And don’t forget to continually let them know how excited you are at the opportunity and how much you’d love to join them.
5. Consider compensation other than salary. Compensation comes in many forms. Should your request for an increased salary be met with resistance, you can frequently negotiate for more vacation, equity in the company, a commitment to pay for ongoing education, professional memberships, travel to industry seminars, assignment to specific projects, flextime, telecommuting, job title, car allowance or a commitment to review your progress at six months instead of one year to adjust your salary if your performance merits an increase. Many companies will agree to creative compensation elements as long as they don’t have to write a larger check each week.

Understanding these simple guiding principles should allow you to effectively negotiate the best possible terms in your next job regardless of the state of the economy. Then, once you’re hired, your potential is limited only by your imagination and hard work.

Culled from his extensive collection of blog posts detailing creative and essential ways for current job seekers to plan and execute their personal job search strategy, Tim has written the authoritative how-to guide to succeed in today’s job market.

The book is broken down into three major sections:

1. Job Search Strategy
2. The Psychology of Job Search
3. Smart Networking

with 10 chapters per section, each focusing on one specific aspect of the job search and each chapter building on what was discussed (and what the reader should have executed) in prior chapters.

Tim provides a brutally frank and candid assessment of the dreary job search process and understands the challenges facing job seekers, both mental and financial, and the specific tactics necessary to engineer a successful job search strategy. Relying upon his recent personal experience dealing with unemployment, Tim’s advice is current, creative and powerfully effective.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of job search advice books on the market but what I found compelling about Tim’s 30 Ideas is that he shares my own conviction that job seekers need to craft a persuasive hiring message and network like crazy so that your message is delivered repeatedly to people who can help you in your search.

Tim makes it very clear that you will not get hired because of your resume, and virtually no one gets hired over the phone. Ultimately, you’re most likely to get hired by someone who met you and was impressed by your clear and articulate personal value proposition. Everything else in your job search arsenal is just meant to get you face to face with the person who has the power to hire you.

My only complaint is that the book doesn’t take the job seeker through the interview and hiring process. 30 Ideas could have been extended to 40 Ideas to guide the reader through the job interview (there is one chapter dealing with The First 5 Minutes, but it’s not enough), the follow up and the negotiation process. Perhaps that’s being saved for the upcoming Volume 2.

Bottom line: 30 Ideas is a well written and timely guide for job seekers eager to gain an edge in their job search strategy. No matter what section you’re reading, the voice is constant, the counsel is valuable and the stories are relevant and engaging.

Most resumes adopt similar formats, and virtually all are created in Microsoft Word, using its default fonts, so making your resume stand apart requires some creativity.

Since your job search is really just a personal marketing exercise, why not incorporate the latest trend in marketing technology – QR codes – directly in your resume?

What is a QR code?
A QR code is a square 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera that generates an immediate action. Based on the type of code it contains, it might direct the viewer to a website, display a custom text message, deliver a vCard or more.

How can I market myself with QR codes?
Although they’re huge in Japan, QR codes are fairly new here in the States so many people won’t understand what they are or won’t have a smart phone with a QR reader installed, which could limit their impact. However, in certain industries or for those job seekers pursuing specific technology or marketing related positions, incorporating a QR code in your resume can help you stand out from the crowd.

How to Create a QR Code
Creating your own QR code, or even multiple codes for different purposes, is incredibly easy. Simply visit the Kaywa or QRStuff websites, select the action you want to generate, enter your website address or custom text, and click generate. The websites will automatically generate your personal QR codes which you can download and insert into your resume file as an image.

Whoever reads your resume can use their smartphone to scan your QR code to see where it takes them. That’s when you can get creative.

Creative Ways to Use Personal QR Codes

1. LinkedIn page – direct the reader to your personal LinkedIn page to provide more detail and depth to your professional background. It would be best if you have a robust LinkedIn page, complete with blog links, social media feeds and recommendations.
2. YouTube video – link to a YouTube video page where they can view you describing your professional strengths and detailing the value you can bring to their organization.
3. vCard – although this might not be the best idea if you’re applying to a very large corporation through HR, it could work well if you’re submitting your resume directly to an identified hiring manager. Knowing that they will likely want to contact you directly at some point, you can have your QR code download a vCard with all of your contact information directly into their smartphone.
4. Blog page – if you have a professional blog, direct the reader to your page so they can read your posts and get a sense of how you think about industry issues and gauge how well you communicate.
5. Display a creative text message – The QR code can instruct the reader’s device to immediately display a text message on their screen. This is a perfect place to present your unique positioning statement, like: Tim Johnson is the person who will build lasting relationships with the people you want to do business with.
6. Custom landing page – create a custom landing page that highlights your professional strengths and direct the reader to your personal sales page.
7. Portfolio page – Showcase your work and direct the reader to an online portfolio of your best work. This is especially powerful for those candidates in design and marketing who can display visual examples of previous design efforts or marketing campaigns.

Even if the individuals reading your resume don’t know how to act on the QR code, including it on your resume can still position you as someone who is technically proficient, stays up to date on business trends and technology and is an early adopter of powerful and creative ideas.

I’d love to hear other creative ways that QR codes can be used. Comments are welcome.

But you’d be wrong.

If you take a look at a dozen of your LinkedIn connections, you’ll discover that virtually every one makes the following five LinkedIn mistakes that diminishes their online brand:

1. Horrible photo selection. How often do you need to be reminded that you only have one chance to make a good first impression? Then why do so many people include photos that have the same resolution and clarity as the Bigfoot photos? Having trouble picking the right photo for your profile? Let me give you some tips. Don’t include your family or your pets in the photo. Don’t substitute your company logo for your photo. Don’t post a full body shot, or even a torso shot since your face will be unrecognizable at 40×40 pixels. Don’t use vacation photos that clearly show a bar in the background. Don’t use a photo you had taken in 1987. And don’t substitute a cute cartoon avatar for your photo.
   Best advice: find a close friend with real photography skills or have a professional photographer take a series of headshots of you in professional attire in front of a light background. Crop it tightly around your head and face and post.
2. Anemic and meaningless headline. Directly below your name, LinkedIn provides space for your professional “headline.” However, few people use that line for an attention grabbing and descriptive phrase. Most resort to simply, and lazily, filling in their job title. What a waste. Too many executives think their title alone will convey their interests and expertise. They’re wrong.
   Jim Mitchem (@jmitchem), the founder and CEO of a Charlotte-based virtual advertising agency could simply entered his titles, but instead wrote Communications Specialist, Copywriter, Advertising Strategist, Owner of smashcommunications, llc. You get a much greater sense of who Jim is and what he considers his strengths: communications (especially copywriting).
   Marijean Jaggers (@marijean), a PR specialist in Charlottesville, VA describes herself as: Social media strategy consultant, public relations professional, media trainer, public speaker, social media educator.
   What both of these examples demonstrate is that a thoughtful headline can communicate so much more than your professional title and encourage the visitor to learn more about you.
3. Not telling your story. Resumes are dull. Horribly dull. Mind numbingly dull. Can you recall the last time you felt like kicking back with a good read and reached for a stack of resumes to peruse? Of course not, because they’re not interesting, they’re not terribly well written and they don’t tell a story. So why would you use the LinkedIn summary section to simply recount your resume progression?
   Every person with a LinkedIn account has a story. Use the Summary section to tell yours. And remember, you are more than the sum of your job titles. Take a look at Jim’s or Marijean’s profiles to see how their brief summaries tell their personal stories, not just their professional accomplishments.
   Or read Sally Hogshead’s profile (@sallyhogshead), containing the single best opening sentence I’ve ever read: Growing up with the last name Hogshead would give anyone an unconventional point of view. How can anyone stop reading after that lead-in?
4. Ignoring applications. LinkedIn applications are an overlooked but effective way of personalizing your LinkedIn profile to provide a deeper understanding of who you are and what motivates you. The best profiles provide automatically updated links to the your blog, your most recent Slideshare presentations, the books you’re reading from Amazon (even if you didn’t buy the books from Amazon), Twitter feeds, and even your recent travel itineraries. The more information you provide, the fuller the picture you provide and the greater the chance that you’ll reveal common interests that can start a conversation and separate you from the job hunting pack.
5. Not securing any recommendations. Want credibility? You can’t provide that all by yourself. Employers want some proof of your personal amazingness. They want someone other than you to vouch for your professional awesomeness. They want to see some recommendations. If you don’t have any recommendations, you need to get busy and ask for some. They’re not going to appear all by themselves, they need some prodding.
   Contact at least half a dozen current or former clients, co-workers or bosses and ask them to provide a brief recommendation for you. I’ve found that the best way to get what you want is to tell them exactly what professional characteristic(s) you’d like them to expound upon. If they have to put too much thought into the recommendation, they’ll put if off until later and never get around to it.
   Send a message like: Jim, I’d really appreciate it if you could write a brief recommendation for my LinkedIn profile. It would help me if you would comment on my creative abilities and my ability to consistently deliver project results on time and under budget. Thanks…
   Now Jim doesn’t have to think too much about what to say and can jot down a few quick sentences that deliver exactly what you want featured on your LinkedIn page.

Most of the mistakes I’ve listed here are committed by those who simply don’t know any better. But now that you do know better, you’ll be able to take a few simple steps to stand apart from the LinkedIn herd.

I’ve received a number of questions and comments about my previous post in the Toughest Interview Questions series: Why Should I Hire You? that suggest that some more detail and explanation is in order.

The reason the question is so difficult for job seekers, and so revealing for employers, is that it requires the candidate to assess their value, not just their strengths. And there’s a big difference.

Most job candidates take the time to catalog and assess their personal strengths. The prepared candidate will focus on their three most important characteristics throughout the interview, relating professional stories that illustrate these strengths in action. But what they typically fail to do is connect these strengths with specific value that is important for the employer.

One recent email query dealing specifically with this issue came from a gentleman interviewing for a server position with an upscale restaurant. He’d determined that his key professional traits were: his positive attitude, his ability to work well with other staff members and his strong work ethic.

All of these traits are positive and likely desired by any restaurant owner, but what they fail to do is differentiate this candidate from the dozen other candidates with similar traits. After all, you can’t expect any candidate to profess their relentlessly negative attitude, disdain for those they work with and their personal sloth.

So, how do you connect your personal strengths with a distinct value statement? The key is to determine what value your strengths deliver. What is the result of your friendliness? How will a restaurant owner benefit from your work ethic? What’s the one sentence that defines your unique selling proposition?

Creating this one sentence statement of your value is much harder than it looks because of its necessary precision. You need to be able to answer Why should I  hire you? with a powerful sentence that matters to the employer.

For the restaurant server, this positioning statement could be:

I deliver a memorable dining experience to every table so they’re already anticipating their next visit before they leave.

I deliver a level of service to each diner with the same care that your chef prepares his signature dishes.

I work harder than any server to deliver a level of care that appears effortless and masterful.

Notice that these statements didn’t focus on the candidate’s strengths, they focused on the outcome. They focused on what’s important to the restaurant owner and invited follow-up questions.

How do you deliver a memorable dining experience? What’s your definition of masterful service? How do you prepare to deliver exceptional service?

Having a single, precise and intriguing personal branding statement like these also eliminate the need to memorize a lengthy response detailing your personal strengths. Instead, your branding statement will generate conversation and follow-up questions that allow you to tell stories that exemplify your personal strengths in action.

What’s my definition of masterful service? When I was working at Amelia’s, I would arrive for work a half-hour early every day so I could review that day’s specials with the chef. I learned how he made each dish, took note of any special ingredients he used and where he got them, and practiced describing these specials so colorfully that my diners had to try them. I would also talk with the sommelier to make sure that I could make appropriate wine suggestions to accompany each dish. It took more time for me to prepare each day, but each table left the restaurant feeling that they just had an exceptional meal and a great dining experience.

It’s not a secret, but it’s not easy to do. You have to focus on one specific value that you deliver and let your supporting stories illustrate your personal strengths. And by focusing on just one thing – one distinct value – you separate yourself from every other candidate who rambles on and on and never clarifies why they should be hired.

Off color comments in status updates. Photos of candidates drinking, smoking assorted substances or engaged in sexually explicit behaviors. Racist, sexist or vulgar references. You name, it and some job candidate has done it. Publicly. For all the world to see. And react to.

Since the latest surveys indicate that over 80% of hiring managers check out their potential hires online before making a job offer, it’s essential that you sanitize your online profiles, especially Facebook.

First Step: Create Lists

It’s still surprising that most Facebook users don’t realize that they can segregate their Facebook contacts into series of lists, each having its own precisely defined level of access to status updates, comments, personal info and photos. Facebook provides privacy tools that let you set specific permissions on a very granular level for virtually every element on your Facebook page.

Consider how many different groups of people that you connect with daily. Your closest friends. Former friends who now barely register as acquaintances. Your family. Professional contacts. Even people you dislike but don’t want to unfriend because of the dramatic repercussions. How do you manage them all?

With lists.

The easiest way to create a list is to click on the Account drop-down menu in the upper right corner of your Facebook page and select Edit Friends.

A window showing all of your Friends will pop up with a small button in its upper right corner titled Create a List. Those clever readers may have already surmised that clicking this button will enable you to create your assorted lists. At a minimum, I would suggest that you create two lists: Professional and Personal (feel free to adopt clever names of your choice) and assign every friend to one of your lists.

Step Two: Assign Every Friend to a List

For most people, it makes more sense to create multiple lists and to assign different levels of access to each. I have a list for All Access (a very limited number of very close friends), Family (Mom, gets to see most, but not all of what I post), Professional (almost always my default new connection list whose members are granted access to a limited amount of my Facebook content), Personal (social friends, but not close enough to give an All Access pass), XXX (friends that I no longer want to connect with but don’t want to publicly unfriend. They get access to virtually no content but still appear as friends.)

Give some thought to how you want to segregate your personal connections and create a list for each category of acquaintance. Then, hover your mouse over each friend on your list, click on the Edit Lists drop down and click on the list that you’d like to assign that person to.

Did I mention that you need to assign every friend to a list? Let’s review why. If every person you’re connected with is in a list, then it only takes a few clicks to change the settings for dozens, hundreds or even thousands of contacts to reflect your changing preferences. If you have friends that are not assigned to any list, then they have a generic Friend access to all the content on your Facebook page and altering access will demand that you do it person by person. Believe me, it’s easier to take the time now to assign every friend to a list than to try to adjust preferences in 6 months clicking through your entire expanding Friend list.

TIP: when you receive a friend request, Facebook presents you with an immediate option to assign that new friend to a list. Always take advantage of this option, click the drop down arrow and immediately pick a list to assign every new friend.

Step Three: Customize Your Privacy Settings

Now that you’ve got every friend assigned to a list, it’s time to grant or restrict their access to your Facebook content. Facebook allows you to customize access on a granular level by clicking on Account > Privacy Settings and then clicking on the Customize Settings option.

Step Three: Customize Your Privacy Settings

You’ve now entered a magical world of privacy delight, with the ability to shield any post, comment, photo or status update from any individual, any list, or any combination. The possibilities are endless.

The content you need to protect is assigned to three categories: Things I Share, Things Others Share and Contact Information.

Let’s start with Things I Share.

As its section name suggests, here is where you control access to all the content that you post to your Facebook page. Clicking on the box to the right of each option lets you make a quick selection to restrict the content to Everyone, Friends of Friends or Friends Only, but we want to be more precise than that and select the actual lists of people to restrict access, so you’ll want to click on Custom edit.

This selection pops up a window that presents you with the ability to both grant and restrict access to the specific element you selected. If you post a lot of personal information and updates to your Facebook page, you may not want your Professional contacts to see them. Here’s where you get to select who gets to see the items you post.

In my example above, I’ve elected to hide my posts from those people who’ve been assigned to my Professional list. And if I want to restrict access to more lists, or even specific contacts, all I have to do is start typing the name of the list or the individual and Facebook will present me with an alphabetized list of options to select from.

Below I’ve selected to hide my posts from my Professional and Family lists and from one individual, Andrew Holland (nothing personal, Drew, just using you as an example).

It’s essential that you go through every option and consider who you want to allow to view your personal information. Do you want your professional contacts to keep updated on your relationship status? Do you want your bowling team to see your vacation photos? Do you want your boss to know that you updated your location status at 2 am at a local gentleman’s club?

TIP: when you create any new status update, you have an option to override your default privacy settings for any individual post. When you enter your update, simply click on the padlock icon (see below) to reveal a privacy setting dropdown menu that allows you to grant or restrict access to this single update to any individual or list of friends. It comes in handy when you want to post a wildly funny update from your best friend’s bachelor party but don’t want your Mom or girlfriend to know. Keep it in mind.

Step Four: Protect Your Photos

More than 2.5 billion photos are uploaded to Facebook every month. And approximately 95% of these photos are of college students with a beer in their hands or a scantily clad blonde in their drunken embrace. OK, so that’s a statistic that I just made up. But from my recent review of college students’ Facebook profiles at a local Carer Day, that figure isn’t too far off the mark.

It’s understandable that you want to share the photos of yourself engaged in bacchanalian revelry with your closest friends. But too many students are also sharing these photos with the head of Human Resources at Big Corp. during their interview process. And then wondering why their fabulous interviews never resulted in a job offer.

Lock your photos down. Click on the Edit Album Privacy link at the bottom of the Things I Share section to select which photo albums will be shared with whom.

Once you click through, you’ll be presented with a listing of every photo album on your Facebook profile. You need to click the down arrow by each album to select who will be allowed to see that album’s contents.

For example, I allow Everyone to see my Profile Photos, but I restrict access to family photos.

The photos I took during Thanksgiving vacation are personal and are intended to share only with Family and my All Access friends. Since I want to restrict their access, I click on the Custom edit option from the drop down menu next to my Thanksgiving 2010 album and select only those lists or individuals that I want to grant access to this album.

As you can see from my selections, I made this album visible to two lists: Family and All Access. Note that I didn’t have to specifically hide the album from any list. Anyone who looks at my Facebook profile who is not a member of my Family or All Access list will automatically be restricted from viewing this particular photo album.

Facebook allows its users to define access to any album on a very granular level. For example, you may grant access to a photo album to all your Friends but hide the album from one specific friend, or just your Professional list, or your Family list and three specific members of your Professional list. The important thing is that you take proactive steps to restrict access, especially to those contacts who you know only on a professional level.

Step Five: Repeat Privacy Customization for Things Others Post and your Contact Information

Many Facebook users have discovered that it’s their friends who post the most inappropriate material to their wall. Without protection, all of your Facebook contacts may be exposed to their vulgar comments, offensive website links or tagged photos of you in embarrassing situations. That’s why it’s essential to take charge of all content related to you that may be posted by others.

There are some real red flags to consider in the Things Others Share section. One of the most damaging actions that can blindside you and irreparably damage your online persona is being tagged in an embarrassing photo or video that gets shared with all your contacts before you’re even aware that it exists. Lock down the ability for anyone to tag you without your approval by restricting access under Photos and videos I’m tagged in.

The next potentially damaging option to restrict is: Can comment on posts. If you have any friend who repeatedly makes inappropriate comments, this is where you can restrict their ability to submit any comments on any of your posts.

Restricting the option Can see Wall posts by friends can protect you from potential embarrassment should any of your friends post offensive content to your wall. You may have no problem with one of your friends posting a tastelessly funny video to your wall, but would not necessarily want your CEO to see it. It’s an easy fix to let your Personal friends post but deny viewing access to your Professional contacts.

It’s probably wise to disable the feature that Friends can check  you into places. Most Facebook users still aren’t aware of the Facebook Locations feature that allows users to check into venues and see other Facebook users who are also there. The potential for personal damage is huge if someone checks you into a location without your knowledge or permission when you’ve told your boss or your spouse that you were somewhere else. Be safe. Click through and select Disabled.

You’re almost done.

The final step is to decide what Contact Information you want to reveal to the world or solely to your Friends.

From my personal perspective, the only information that I want Everyone to have access to is my email address. I don’t want my address or phone numbers publicly available, but if someone wants to contact me, I want them to be able to send me a message through email. I expect that the IM Screen Name option will someday be replaced by Twitter, Skype and other social media options, but these are the options we have to work with right now.

Once you’ve customized these Contact preferences, you’re nearly done.

Step Six: Preview Your Profile

Before assuming that your efforts to protect your profile are complete and successful, you need to check your work.

Facebook provides an easy way to preview how your profile will appear to anyone in your Friend list.

By clicking the Preview My Profile button at the top of the Privacy Settings page, you can select the name of any of your Friends to see exactly what they see when they access your Facebook page. Type in the name of a Professional contact, then a Family contact, then a Personal friend to confirm that they can only view the content that’s appropriate for their assigned list.

Finally, make it a point to review your Privacy settings every few months to make sure that new photo albums haven’t slipped under the radar and to ensure that the settings you originally created are still appropriate.

I was reminded of the frustration that job seekers face when I received a phone call this afternoon from an old acquaintance – an immensely talented and successful real estate executive whose company was acquired by an international conglomerate, resulting in his layoff. After eight months of looking for work, he confessed to me that he simply wasn’t marketable.

I don’t doubt that he may not know how to market himself – after all, he wasn’t a marketing executive, but a real estate expert – but I’m convinced that his problems don’t rest solely with the troubled real estate sector but with his approach to finding a new job in a changing marketplace that places a premium on specific networking and marketing skills.

A quick perusal of his online presence revealed that he has paid virtually no attention to his online persona. Although he has a LinkedIn profile, it’s obvious that it remained largely ignored. And a Google search reveals nothing online beyond his LinkedIn profile.

This means that his 25 years in the industry  has gone largely unnoticed. Just when he needs prospective employers to notice him.

I understand why he feels down, and why he feels that he’s not marketable, but he’s wrong. There are seven immediate steps that he can take to take control of both his job search and his attitude:

1. take ownership of your happiness. Employers take immediate notice of your attitude, whether on the phone or in person. If you’re despondent or lack energy, you’ll find yourself in a spiraling vortex of rejection. You are the only person who can determine your own happiness. There are days when it will require herculean effort to find a bright spot and exude happiness, but it’s necessary and it’s attainable. Own it.
2. be proactive and take charge of your job search. Your job is to find a new job. You are now the boss of Find Me Work, Inc. That means that you need to plan a job search strategy and execute it every day. Every task you accomplish, every person you add to your network, and every phone call that leads to a new prospect can boost your spirits and increase your chances of finding the job you want.
3. find job search partners. It’s not necessary, or even productive, to go through the job search process alone. You’ll find that working with others facing similar challenges can provide you with the emotional and professional support you need and keep you motivated. Find a local job search group, join them in their weekly meeting, connect with members and create your own support group.
4. build your network every day. You already know how you’re going to find a new job. It won’t be on a job board. It won’t be in response to one of the hundreds of resumes you sent out. It will almost certainly result from a connection that you make through your networking efforts. The one person who knows a person who’s looking for someone just like you. But it won’t happen if you don’t actively extend your network.
5. set goals. Want to build your network? Set a daily goal to add five people to your online network. Want people to know you’re still actively looking? Set a weekly goal to make 20 phone calls to your assorted contacts to stay in touch and keep them posted. Want to be remembered and recalled by prospective employers? Set a goal to send one actual letter per day to the executives in your industry who might hire you or know people who could hire you. Send them an article, a networking suggestion or anything that will interest them and simply let them know that you still exist.  Whatever you do, have a plan with concrete goals, and then meet them. You’ll be rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and know that every day you’ve made progress towards your ultimate goal.
6. stay active in volunteer work. Even if you’re not active in a professional capacity, you should keep busy through volunteer work. You’ll feel better about yourself, you’ll stay busy and you never know where your most important connection is going to come from.
7. keep in touch with your family and friends. You have a built-in support network, if you’re willing to reach out and rely on them. Remember, no one can help you if they don’t know you need help. If I’d received this phone call six months ago, we potentially could have avoided months of fruitless effort and increasing despair. Reach out, let people know you’re looking for work and ask for their help. You’ll likely be surprised by the support you receive and the efforts others will make to help you.

The audience of approximately 100 recent or pending college graduates gathered at The Plain Dealer’s headquarters in downtown Cleveland to listen to an assortment of speakers provide advice, motivation and insight into the daunting process of finding a real world career after college. The crowd of students was dominated by young women, who appear to have made up about 70% of the audience.

As the designated social media dilettante, my task was to convince this room full of Facebook aficionados of the need to create, maintain and promote a social media presence on LinkedIn instead of Facebook. Although all of the students were familiar with LinkedIn, none had built a complete profile that could competently and memorably convince a prospective employer of their professional value.

My presentation focused on the necessity to consider the impression they make with their social media content. As college students, they rarely, if ever, consider the long term consequences of indiscreet comments and photos that dominate the typical student’s Facebook page. I related stories from job seekers who lost dream jobs because of inappropriate or offensive content that surfaced during their job search and assured them that if any comment or conversation had the potential to offend, it would.

As with any professional on LinkedIn, they also need to recognize the importance of their first impression. What does their photo convey? Is their headline compelling and informative? Did they tell their personal story and convey their professional passions in their summary?

After my talk, I offered to review any student’s social media profiles to suggest how they could become career friendly. About a dozen students stayed to review their profiles, which was heartening, but what surprised me was that of the students who stayed to have their profiles critiques, all were young women. There were no young men who sought feedback, suggestions or critique of their own efforts.

Of course, this could be an anomaly, or it could reflect the miserly impact my presentation had on the young crowd. But it could also reflect gender based behavioral differences that can have long term professional consequences. The young women who are comfortable soliciting advice and prepared for critique will learn more, improve the quality of their professional product and develop valuable team building skills that will prepare them more completely for the professional world.

The young men who elect to embark on their own will discover that innovation, creativity and excellence are not solo pursuits. The best ideas and greatest innovations almost always result from group interactions, the amalgam of ideas and the absorption of both positive and negative feedback. Employers aren’t looking for brilliant loners, but for participative employees with the capacity to learn from their inevitable mistakes and contribute as part of a cohesive group.

If one day spent with the future of advertising and marketing professional is any indication, I’m betting on the women to dominate their field.

Doug placed an ad for a marketing director on Craigslist, including a set of specific instructions that interested candidates needed to follow in order to apply for the position.

The following transcript, taken directly from their email exchanges (with the candidate’s name changed) shows how a negative attitude and hypersensitivity to critique can destroy promising potential.

Cathy-

Congratulations. You are the first person to include everything I asked for!

We’ll be in touch early this week.

Doug

Doug-

I follow directions!  My cell phone is broken right now, so I’ll be going to Sprint tomorrow to get a new one.  If you would like to contact me, please do so via email for now. Thanks!

Cathy

Hi Doug!

I recently added Sparkbase to my Twitter feed and noticed that you were advertising for a copywriter/marketing coordinator.  Is this the position that you were thinking of?  If so, I would love to express my interest as I am pretty sure it will be similar to the work that I did with Company X.  I look forward to speaking with you some time this week.

Thanks again!

Cathy

Cathy-

I need someone with strong copywriting experience. They need to be able to write a press-release, a case study, or a blog post with speed and maturity. We have a fun fast-paced environment, but need to be professional to everyone in the outside world.

If you think this is up your alley, we should continue the conversation. Have you written press-releases before? If so, do this:

Write the press release that we’d send out if you were hired. Write it as SparkBase, and write my quote, your quote, and the information that you’ll want to have out there. Find our boiler-plate, and format it as we’ve done the last few that we’ve sent out.

Email it to me and we can go from there.

-Doug

Hi Doug!

Lucky for me, I have had experience writing press releases for various non-profits and Company X.  Attached is the one I just wrote according to your specifications.  I’m positive that this position is right up my alley.

Cathy,

Not bad, but I’d have focused more on SparkBase than Company X. They are winding down, while we are winding up. You always want the company to seem like this is the best place in the world, and they have more work than you can handle.

I’m forwarding your information to a gentleman that is helping us qualify our candidates.

-Doug

Doug,

Thank you for the opportunity.  However, it’s been a rough year. I just cannot get emotionally attached to another position that I really want and that I know I could do well, only to have it be given to someone else.  I am qualified for this job-  but I would rather decline  than go through an arduous interview process only to be rejected again.  I’m just too exhausted.

Again, thank you so much for contacting me regarding this position.  I really do wish I had more fight in me, and I would have if this was about 8 or 9 months ago.

Best of luck to you and SparkBase!

Cathy

Cathy-

You’re giving up too soon. Throwing in the towel before your first in-person interview isn’t going to serve you well in this job market.

Best of luck. I hope you find some “fight” for your journey.

-Doug

I politely removed myself from your applicants with candor and honesty.  The response I got back was unfair, unnecessary and condescending- and quite frankly, it gave the assurance I had made the right choice. At this point in time, did not feel that it was in my best interest to pursue this position.  To say that my actions won’t get me far in this job market was a trite comment made without knowing me or what I have overcome this year.  I follow my heart and my instinct, and therefore I have no regrets as to where I am right now.

Again, best of luck to you and your endeavors- I mean that with all sincerity.

Cathy

The irony of this exchange is that Doug considered Cathy to be the top candidate for the marketing position. She followed instructions, was proactive in her communications, conveyed an enthusiastic attitude and demonstrated a facility for writing. He was eager to meet with her and was taken completely aback by her withdrawal from consideration in her final emotionally charged messages.

Active job seekers, including Cathy, can learn some lessons from this exchange:

1. Attitude is everything. Searching for work in a difficult economy can be difficult, time consuming, disheartening and even depressing. But the reality is that no employer is actively seeking to hire a depressed and disenchanted employee. Put a smile on, even when you’re not really feeling it.
2. Follow instructions. Doug puts a distinct series of instructions in every job posting as a method to screen candidates. If you don’t respond in the manner instructed, to the appropriate email address, with the specific information requested, then you don’t even gain consideration. Details matter.
3. Never, never, never, never give up. Winston Churchill first proclaimed this timeless advice over 70 years ago, and its wisdom is still entirely appropriate and true. Had Cathy simply compelled herself to work through a dispiriting day, she may have found herself with a wonderful job at Sparkbase today.
4. Don’t confuse critique with criticism. Every famous writer on the planet has an editor. Stephen King. Tom Clancy. John Grisham. Even after demonstrating a capacity to sell millions of books, they each have an editor who reads, critiques and edits every book they publish. Being able to handle constructive critique is an essential professional trait. If you’re too thin-skinned and immature to consider editorial comments as they were intended, you’re not ready for the adult work world.
5. When the CEO of a successful company offers you advice, take it. As shocking I found Cathy’s seemingly impetuous recusal from consideration, what I found most appalling was her reflexive indignation at Doug’s suggestion that giving up wasn’t going to serve her well in her job search. It was neither unfair, unnecessary nor condescending. In fact, if anything, it was a moderated response from an experienced executive with genuine concern provoked by the capricious and irrational responses of a young and seemingly reckless job seeker. His advice was sound and prescient, though I doubt that Cathy will view it that way.But, with luck, other job seekers will learn from her mistakes and keep their own job searches from imploding in such a cataclysmic fashion.