Today is my sister’s birthday. Happy Birthday Sonja!
Sonja is one of those people who sees her own blind spots and fixes them. Not everyone does that. In her honor I decided to share some career management blind spots and tips to overcome them. Today, we focus on Blind Spot #1:
Abandoning your personal marketing.
Your LinkedIn profile still lists what you were doing in 2009 and the photo is clearly a seasonal one – the background is a winter scene.
This makes it appear as if you have checked out for the last three years and never came back. Employers are always concerned with the productivity of their employees. The last thing you want to do is advertise that you are a person who “checks out.”
You worked really hard DURING your job search, making sure everything stayed up-to-date, but after you land the job you want, you still need to proactively market yourself. Let me give you an example. Just a few weeks ago a recruiter contacted me about a position (not yet posted) to see if I knew someone perfect for the position. I did — you! While on the phone I jumped on LinkedIn to share your contact info and guess what – NO update since 2009! I still wanted to refer you so I told the recruiter I would contact you to see if you are interested and call him back. I had to stall because your marketing materials were not up-to-date. Not a good ongoing career management plan.
Action Tips:
Post a new photo or a seasonal photo each season, if you like. Add specifics to your new position description. Show your growth by posting a new accomplishment each quarter. Reach out to someone in your network each week. At the end of the year you would touch 52 people in your network.
You can do all of these things in less than 15 minutes a week. Make an appointment with yourself each week. Take those 15 minutes to log into your LinkedIn account, read your mail, respond to invitations, update one item and make one new contact.
By doing this weekly you create a habit. And, you’ll never have to scramble getting things updated when an opportunity arises.
Look for next week’s post where I discuss Blind Spot #2 – failing to respond to a call or email.
Are you ready for better results in your current position or looking to make your next career move? Give me call or connect on LinkedIn.
no comment until now