Most of us have many mentors and coaches in our lives. Often our parents are the first coaches we experience.  

My mother without any formal training as a coach or mentor is a good coach and mentor.  Not always of course, did I listen, or want to hear what she had to say.  Yes, we have over the years had the intense mother vs. daughter discussions, disagreements and major differences in opinion.  Maybe that is our relationship or the norm.  I don’t know the answer to that question.

Actually, my mother is a good coach and connector.  She is also a good role model.  Connections from my mother helped me get many of my early jobs. From early babysitting engagements, project work typing insurance policies and what I view as my first ‘real’ job. 

When I look back over the years, especially when I was in high school some of the best career advice I ever received came from my mother.  That career advice had a positive and lasting impact on my career.

Did you receive career advice from your mother?   What was that advice?  Will you share your favorite career advice from your mother below?

Here is some of the advice I received from my mother:

Relationships count.  Building and nurturing relationships in your life and in your career matter.  My mother often encouraged me to see and understand the point of view of others, to learn about other people, what they liked and disliked, then to find a way to make a connection and build a relationship.  A skill that when honed is valuable to your career.

Service matters and when done gladly all the better.  Don’t just do the minimum, always do your best and then something extra.  My mother always adds the extra thing. It is part of her personal branding. Delivery of expected service and doing the job you are paid to do just covers the basics.  The skill of grateful service and adding value does set you apart from the crowd.  Something extra of significance to the person or organization you are serving adds instant value, gains favorable attention, encourages referrals, and repeat business, items critical to your career. 

I hope you will share some of the career advice you received from your mother, or someone special to that you will celebrate on Mother’s Day.  I thought it would be a cool way to honor my mother this year on Mother’s Day.  Join me in this honor if you wish. 

Sharing the advice your mother shared with you seems like a great way to say thank you and honor that advice.  Mothers you are also welcome to share the career advice you have given to your children if you wish.  Thanks for sharing your treasured advice.

Enjoy Mother’s Day on Sunday as you celebrate in whatever special way fits you!

Mother, Happy Mother’s Day – thank you for being a coach, a mentor, a role model, a friend and a wonderful mother.  See you soon.  Cindy

If you are new to LinkedIn you may have questions on where to start.  Here are tips for getting starting with LinkedIn.

LinkedIn and Personal Branding can be great tools to help you in your job search.  LinkedIn can help you be seen by those who need to know you, find you, and get to know you better.

Using Groups and LinkedIn Answers are both solid ways to reach a target audience.  Each feature provides interactive ways for you to be seen and heard by your target audience.  As you engage in a group dialogue or a business conversation with peers, group members you showcase your knowledge you can answer questions and become seen as an expert by answering the questions of others in your field, industry or area of interest.

Be sure you cover the basics and have a solid foundation before you move to advanced features and apps.  Think about your brand, communicate your unique value and be consistent.

Here are the pillars for your foundation:   Name, Headline, Photo, Your Personalized URL, Experience, Education, and Summary.  The first five (5) are critical to getting started.  You can set up your account and in a professional manner and begin connecting with others after you have these areas set up as your foundation.

Don’t forget about your account settings.  Many in the career field will also recommend you upload your text résumé to your account to save time.  That is not a recommendation I make, but do it if you are in a rush and speed to market is more important to you than quality.

Now get busy, offline and make a list of those key people and centers of influence that you wish to invite to join your LinkedIn network.  Once you have the list, take time to reach out to them, tell them you have joined LinkedIn and ask if they would accept an invitation from you to connect?  Then send a personalized LinkedIn invitation to you initial list of contacts and centers of influence.

Again, this method is not the easiest or fastest one for adding LinkedIn connections.  It is a method sure to enhance your relationships and strengthen your network as you build your list of connections on LinkedIn.  If speed or just amassing large numbers of connections is more important to you than the quality of the connection or the relationship, you can simply allow LinkedIn access to your email addresses, and send all of your email contacts who also have a LinkedIn account, a generic invitation to connect with you on LinkedIn.

You have your LinkedIn foundation set, this tool in place and initial invitations sent.  Next you can focus on other features to leverage LinkedIn to accelerate your search.

Do you have a question about your search or LinkedIn?  Look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.

You are building your brand.  You are leveraging your strengths, gifts, and talents.  Your brand does help you stand out in a crowded market place.  Hiring managers remember you, then pick up the phone and call you – do you want this to continue?  If so, you will definitely want to read “7 Personal Branding Trends for Job Search in 2012”.

The personal branding trends to watch list is published annually by William Arruda.  Arruda is a personal branding guru, an author, and speaker.  He is credited with turning the concept of personal branding into a global industry and the founder of Reach Personal Branding (disclosure: Reach Personal Branding is a partner of my company).  His annual trends list is a quick snapshot of what’s evolving in personal branding.

Managing your brand is an ongoing project, not a once in a while task.  Keeping up with the trends, that help you communicate who you are and what you do, is critical to your career and you job search.

Just as you must hone your skills, stay in touch with what’s new and the ever changing world of  your industry and profession, you must understand the current trends in personal marketing and personal branding.  If you don’t market yourself, you will fall behind those do market themselves.  When you know the trends, you choose what is best for you and your target audience. 

Not all trends will interest you or work for you, yet you won’t ignore them.  Take a look. Then decide how to leverage the 2012 trends into a carefully crafted marketing plan.  Knowing where you are today, having a plan you can execute ensures you continue to communicate your personal brand to accelerate your search and success.  Here are William Arruda’s 2012 personal branding trends to watch list:

 1. Headshots Everywhere

2. Crowdsourcing for Professionals

3. Personal QR Codes

4. Job Postings R.I.P.

5. Professional, DIY Video

6. Permanent Unemployment

7. Personal Qwikis

Assess the trends.  Decide your course of action, stay relevant and gain the favorable attention of your key contacts, centers of influence, recruiters, and hiring managers.  That action will help you accelerate your search and land the job you want. 

If you need help implementing or incorporating one or all of these trends into your job search contact me.  Do you have a question about your job search or leveraging your personal brand?  Call or look to the right and sign up for next Q & A session, join the session and ask your question.

Last week I spoke at two unique events about how to leverage your personal brand, your online presence and online networking.  From the questions during both Q & A sessions it was very clear most people have only touched the surface of standing out in a crowd.  Most don’t know the quick and easy ways to stand out.   Some people shared nothing, yet many shared they don’t leverage their LinkedIn profile, résumé and business card.  Some were surprized at how little things make a BIG difference. 

So when I read, the post “Presidents’ Day 2012: Who is the most underrated president?” by Jon DeNunzio and the comments on the nominees (you can find on Twitter using the hashtag #underratedpresident or below the post) I thought, WOW – we have 44 people who have served as a U.S. President and the conversation is on the MOST underrated in 75 words or less.  Interesting!

Can you state why you are underrated in less than 75 words?  

Do you have 75 words or less that help you STAND OUT if you are on a list of 44 people?  

Do you know how others view and rate your work over a four or eight year span of time?   

Many seeking a new job are underrated, and sadly they underrate themselves.  The impact of that is a lower value in the market place and not being noticed.

Are you lowering your value in the market place with your current LinkedIn profile, résumé and business card?  Most professionals even if, on the most-praised list of others don’t leverage that praise or marketing power.  Many people don’t know how to uncover what others think of them or the value information can provide. 

Which list are you on “underrated” or “much-praised” or not on the list for the job past or present?   Have you reviewed your brand, LinkedIn profile, résumé or business card?

Who will win the underrated vote and be the subject of the Tuesday guest post on The Fix for Tuesday?

What would happen if you changed your personal marketing? 

Could feedback from you network help bring you some clarity around your personal brand and accelerate your search?

Would a few key words or phrases help you to leverage your brand and your value to make a hiring managers list?

Need help with your personal brand contact me. 

Need LinkedIn Profile or tips to enhance your current profile?                                        

Check back next week for LinkedIn tips.

What does your career pattern look like?  How does it compare to your peers?  

What does it say about you, about what you believe and where you are going?  What does it say about career planning and living in general?

The article in Fast Company, “The Four-Year Career” by Anya Kamenetz discusses a pattern the article states is increasingly defining the careers of US workers. Read it and share your view.

The article shares some recent statistics – “the median number of years a US worker has been in his or her current job is just 4.4, down sharply since the 1970s.”  As well as a close look at the careers of three people, two females, ages 36, and 61, and one male, age 28. Additionally, it shares more interesting statistics, insights and lessons.

The world of work is new and different than many of us were taught as young children, or at least different than how I was taught.  My view of what I was taught at an early age shifted in the 1980s.  Do you still believe what you learned as a young child?  Has your view shifted?  If not, what would happen if your view did make a shift?

I hope you enjoy the article.  I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on Anya Kamenetz’s article.  Post them below or drop me an email. 

May I leave you with a few questions to ponder…

What do you believe in, why do you want to do the work you are pursuing?

What job or jobs (for others) could you create if you move or drive toward new goals, objectives and your beliefs?

What is next for you?   Do you have a four year plan?  If no, what do you want a plan?

You have heard it and you know your reputation counts in your job search.  It is a given that employers will check your references.  Employers and recruiters will ask you and others about your experience, how you work, the quality of work you deliver, and many other questions to help them determine if you are the right person for the current opening in the organization. 

Do you know what others say about you when asked?  Do you know how others view you? 

Your reputation – who you are and what makes you tick all help you communicate your value to an employer.  What others share about you is critical.  Do you understand how others view you?

When you have a keen understanding of yourself and how you are communicating who you are, how you work, play and do all things it is much easier to communicate your value in a way that paints a clear picture for others.  When you also have an understanding of how others view and value you, you are better able to market and leverage your brand.

After all your reputation (your personal brand) is about what others think of you, not only what you think.  Do know what others value about your knowledge, your experience, your skills, your style, your value in the workplace, your vision and your values?

What would happen if you did?

All of these items are elements of your personal brand and who you will be as an employee.  These elements make up ‘fit’.  “Fit” for the job is one of the critical factors in hiring a new employee.  Employers want not only the skills need to do the job they also want employees who “fit” on the team and within the organization.  Don’t you want “fit” too?

One of the best indicators of future performance is past performance, and most if not all hiring managers know this.  Therefore, as employers seek employees for new or open positions they not only identify the skills and experience needed for the job, employers seek to discover how you have performed in the past and they seek information from others to learn about your possible ‘fit’.

When you began your job search you probably updated your résumé, your LinkedIn profile, contacted a few key people in your network, maybe asked for a reference or two, posted your résumé online, and set up a few online search agents to send to you emails of job openings in your field.  Then you may have made a few calls to see who might be hiring, and began to look at the job openings online.  You submitted a few applications or emailed out your résumé and now you are waiting to the phone to ring or the emails asking you to set up an interview.  Does that sound like your marketing efforts and your search plan so far?

If so maybe it is time to leverage your reputation and actively market yourself.  Here are the steps to leverage your reputation (your personal brand) and actively market yourself and have a better understanding of your personal reputation and how to market and communicate your ‘fit’ to employers who will value you.

1. Get feedback on your reputation.  Learn about what others think of you and how they communicate your strengths.  Assessments, interviews and conversations will help gather feedback.
2. Review the feedback.  After you selected those to provide feedback and gathered enough data, you will want to review the data.  This type of feedback will often provide valuable data to help you create a very on target message to share your value.
3. Review the feedback with a trusted advisor or coach.   To look at your reputation and grow and leverage your personal brand you will need help.  Companies hire teams of experts, don’t short change yourself by lacking the benefits and insights of having a trusted advisor or coach help you review the data you have gathered.
4. Establish your brand aspirations.  Your reputation evolves.  This occurs with or without your intention.  How can your reputation and your strengths help you achieve your goals?  How will you communicate these as you continue to grow and evolve?  Strong personal brands grow and evolve and your personal brand is a tool to help you market yourself and to achieve your goals.  What is your desire for your brand?  How would you like to communicate your desire?
5. Plan and execute.  Ideas, Thoughts, Aspirations are great, however without planning and action nothing happens.  Develop your plan to leverage your reputation, make a commitment to yourself to take action, now execute and market yourself communicate your value and use your reputation and what others say about you to demonstrate your “fit” for the job you want.

I often share with my clients that clarity of message rarely comes as quickly as you wish it would. Yet when it does come together, it’s like the sun breaking out at about 10am on a foggy fall morning.

 You know the mornings, those mornings that are thick, gray, the road hard to see, you feel as if you are not sure where you are going and if you are on the right road, then the sun jumps out, the color of fall is all around you.  The sky is bright; the grass green and even if the payment in front of you disappeared, you would know you are on the right road.  Trust me the message will come, if you are doing the work and the message will come.

 Many people can do this work alone without help.  They have lots of time and they enjoy solo work. 

 Others like you may not have the time nor enjoy the solo journey.  If you have discovered that having help and feedback to help you speed the process is something you are seeking, or you have a question that you want to ask to clarify your message join the next Q & A call.   I am happy to listen to your question and see if I can help you.  Have a question now?  Give me a call and let’s talk.

“Do what you love. Lead with vision and passion; use your strengths and offer unique value, the market will notice and reward you.” ~ Cindy Key

One of the common mistakes is not being clear about what you do.

Over the years, as I work with executives and professionals, I have discovered that it is often the most talented who face the biggest challenge in clearly communicating what they do and make the mistake of not being clear.  Most people forget to keep the message simple.   

That is why I smiled this week when I read this post “Randy Fenoli: ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ Star At Brides Magazine White-Hot Hope Style Shop”.   Randy Fenoli is very clear about what he does and does not do – “I don’t sell dresses. I dress brides”.

Randy Fenoli gets it and communicates it in 3 words! 

For those who are interested, curious or want to know more about Randy Fenoli, he has a clear 133 word; 6 sentence Bio or his Twitter Bio to complete the picture. His message is consistent and clear.

Is your message clear?  Do you tell others quickly and clearly what you do?

Do you have a question or need some help to clarify your message, develop or communicate your personal brand?

 Sign up to the right and join the next Q & A call.

Dewitt Jones has a great saying ~ “Celebrate what’s right with the World!”   He does this with his gifts and his work. You can find his photos at www.dewittjones.com – Enjoy!

As you enjoy today, celebrate summer, celebrate August or just celebrate life, I hope you do something fun, wonderful, and that you are celebrating what is ”right’ in your world!

Enjoy the week!

Not a week goes by that someone does not ask this question – there is not one best answer or one best way.   No two people are alike and no two candidates are alike.

The most successful approach it to focus on who you are, your strengths, what you offer and your unique talents.  That’s what sets you apart from the other candidates who will interview for the job you want. 

This approach is not hard but does require focus.  Begin with an assessment of your strengths, skills and talents.  Then plan how to communicate your value in each area.  Build your marketing message and tools showing how you can and will use your talents to provide consistent, performance to help an organization achieve its crucial business goals.  

The reason this is hard for most people to sell their talent and strengths during a job search is they get too focused on the past, or on what is missing or what’s wrong.  Focus first on you and your value. 

It is easy to get focused on what you don’t have, what you need to “fix” or what your weaknesses are, and move into comparison mode, but that is a dead end road to mediocrity.  Invest some time and focus on assessing your strengths, what you do well, your talents and how you can best apply these to the marketplace. 

When you know yourself, your value, your talents, your strengths, and how to communicate what you want, then you don’t dread an interview or talking to a potential employer.  Nor do you need to spend hours fixating on re-wording a résumé or writing a cover letter to fit a job posting, instead you can spend your time on targeted interactions within the organizations who can use and are looking for your skills and talent.

What are your natural talents? 

What pertinent knowledge and skills do you offer the marketplace? 

How can you use your talent to help the organization achieve a significant return on their investment in your salary?

Can you clearly share this information with a potential employer in a few minutes?