Executive Networking Archives -

Mastering the Informational Interview

For executives between careers, the daily grind of the job search becomes more stifling every day. Connections go unanswered, interviews becomes stressful and unrewarding, and discouragement always seems just around the corner. But one executive tool not only strengthens connections and increases industry knowledge, it boosts job search verve. If you’re struggling to find a new career, meet your new business partner: the informational interview.

The Importance of Informational Interviews

Informational interviews have many facets, all of which benefit job seekers. They build a connection with someone who may help you land a job, they prepare you for the position (or industry) where you’d like to work, and they give you unique insights into the inner workings of a specific company. Informational interviews help executives approach potential jobs with clear goals and insider information on how to accomplish those goals.

How to Maximize an Informational Interview

Develop a strategy. Like yourself, each interviewer has motives for conducting an informational interview. He may be doing a favor to a mutual friend, he may be screening you for a future with his company, or he may have his own research in mind. If the interview is secured through a mutual contact, prepare a series of questions. Keep the interview casual, but work your skills and job history into the conversation. If the interview is secured directly, approach it as an unofficial interview. Keep a polished resume on hand and come prepared to not only to ask, but also to answer questions.
Take notes. No matter how high on the food chain your interviewer is, he or she will have valuable insights about the current climate of the industry and the inner workings of his or her company. Jot down information that may prepare you for your next career — or help you land it.
Ask the right questions. And no, “Do you have openings available?” is not one of them. Come prepared with 5-10 thought-provoking questions about the industry and the interviewer’s role within it. Only discuss your executive talents in the framework of casual conversation. If your interviewer has questions for you, allow him or her to redirect the conversation at his or her leisure.
Follow up. Informational interviews take just as much time as job interviews. Thank your contact for sacrificing personal time to give you insights into his or her position. Send an email or handwritten note within 48 after your interview.

For more information about building an executive career, contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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Networking for Tech Professionals

Regardless of someone’s speciality or the number of year’s they’ve observed an industry, they’re bound to have a few misconceptions about the nuances of internal structure for specific businesses. Many of these suppositions are based on how particular industries hire, promote, and educate its talent. And a substantial portion of conventional job search wisdom, particularly regarding executive networking, is based on false assumptions.

Networking in Tech Fields

People-oriented careers — retail, public relations, and marketing, to name a few — have a logical reputation for requiring more people-oriented job search methods. Meanwhile, industry outsiders and STEM professionals alike typically assume that engineering and computing jobs require more skills-based job search methods, such as creating a powerful executive resume, designing an impressive project sample, and garnering high quality recommendations. In fact, a recent study by LinkedIn proves the opposite true: technologically based fields need highly specialized employees, so they frequently hire based on shared education, work experience, or personal recommendations from shared contacts. The industries that most frequently hire fresh talent from networking pools include:

Computer gaming
Computer and network security
Venture capital and private equity
Political organizations
Wireless
Management consulting
Defense and space
Computer software
Movies/film
Computer hardware

Women in STEM Jobs

As any woman specializing in a STEM career knows, these industries are largely male-oriented. Women often face discrimination in both the hiring process and the promotion process. Creating a strong business network is critical to female executives seeking a career in science, technology, engineering, or math.

To learn more about personal marketing and networking for STEM executives, call Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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Craft an Expert Holiday Sales Pitch

The holiday season offers myriad chances to extend your professional network and mine new career opportunities. Every December executives are inundated with invitations to work parties, social functions, and a number of other superlative networking opportunities. Whether your job search is active during the holiday season or temporarily on hold, take advantage of your holiday social circle by developing a strong elevator pitch for this year’s holiday functions.

Why Form an Elevator Pitch?

Self-promotion is a challenge in the best of times, but at a holiday party you must not only overcome personal hangups, but also contend with a crowded room, tenuous introductions, and a shortage of time. Having a well-crafted elevator pitch can help you make an impression instead of leaving you fumbling by the snack table during networking opportunities like holiday office parties. A concise, informative elevator sales pitch allows executives to introduce themselves to visiting CEOs, leadership teams within their current companies, and experts in industries that may sound appealing as future career paths. The more you polish your self-promotion sales pitch, the better you can build a professional network when you find yourself in a situation with an unexpected opportunity for developing your career.

How to Craft the Perfect Self-Pitch

A good elevator sales pitch is concise, informative, and well-branded. Remember these rules of a good self-promotion elevator pitch:

Keep the pitch between 60 seconds and 3 minutes, with room for expansion or abbreviation based on your audience
Share your goal (e.g. gaining new knowledge, expanding your network, broadening your industry education)
Identify how you can provide value to your new business contact
Use specific, actionable words
Utilize your personal brand, sharing your story in creative ways
Wrap up with a clear call to action
Follow up several days after the initial pitch with a quick phone call, email, or holiday greeting card

Do you need help transforming your executive story into a concise, actionable sales pitch? Call Executive Resumes Atlanta for help honing your personal brand.

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Happy Thanksgiving, Atlanta!

For business executives, the holiday season provides myriad opportunities for professional growth. From Thankgiving until New Year’s CEOs, COOs, board members, and other corporate leaders will face unique challenges, find fresh career paths, and increase their networking reach. Studies show that job searching during the holiday season gives executives a clear advantage in their industries. Studies also show the benefit of unplugging from work, email, and the executive job search to rejuvenate physically and mentally.

Whether you anticipate a productive weekend or four days of refocusing on your personal life, take a few hours this Thursday to give thanks for the blessings in your life. A healthy work/life balance is crucial to personal and professional success. Stepping back to examine our lives objectively allows us to refresh, reprioritize, and re-engage as necessary. This holiday season, give thanks for your career, your family, and the untold possibilities on the horizon.

Happy Thanksgiving from Executive Resumes Atlanta!

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Take Advantage of Holiday Networking Opportunities

For executives looking for fresh careers, the holiday season offers unique opportunities for growth and development. During the time between Christmas and the New Year, many CEOs, COOs, board members, and other executives take time off to recharge and reconnect with their loved ones. Stepping back to reengage with personal responsibilities is proven to increase the productivity, focus, and drive of business executives. Professionals who take advantage of excess of free time to find a new career path will face slimmer competition during the holidays, increasing the likelihood that a well-written executive resume will prompt a follow-up. Whether you’re taking a break or reinvigorating your job search, every executive building their career should take advantage of holiday networking.

Tips for Holiday Networking Success

Find a partner. In some cases, networking safety blankets are a boon. Mingling at an office party with a friend or coworker allows you to feel more confident, increasing the likelihood that you’ll approach senior executives and strike up pertinent conversations. Networking with a friend also opens more business channels. Your friend likely has connections to share; you can pay back your coworker’s kindness by introducing her to the executive contacts in your business network.
Look for opportunities. Striking up a conversation with an unknown executive at a holiday party is a daunting prospect. Take advantage of the setting to garner business connections without appearing pushy. Seek out the host of the party to thank him for his hospitality, strike up a conversation with the coworker standing solo at the snack table, and remain vigilant for opportunities to connect, such as discussing your favorite holiday movies with a visiting business partner.
Play it cool. Are you searching for a new job before resigning from your current position? Networking at a holiday party doesn’t have to blow your cover. Focus on making contacts, finding commonality, and building relationships; leave business and development for subsequent conversations.
Follow up. Networking at a holiday function means nothing if you don’t cultivate new relationships. Remember to send new business contacts a holiday greeting to strengthen the connection; chances are you’ll open the door to future opportunities for career advancement.

Have questions about navigating the challenging world of the holiday job hunt? Call Executive Resumes Atlanta for more information.

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Promoting Skills on LinkedIn

Most job seekers, from CEOs and CMOs to entry-level workers, know the benefits of LinkedIn for online networking. But although most tech-savvy professionals utilize LinkedIn to build connections and seek fresh talent, few take advantage of everything this professional networking tool has to offer. The true benefit of online networking doesn’t lie in creating a profile that equates to a sales pitch, getting the most connections, or “online stalking” prospective companies. The true networking power of LinkedIn lies in its ability to recommend, build, and endorse specific skills.

Building Skills on LinkedIn

You wouldn’t email a hiring manager an executive resume that failed to enumerate your qualifications. So why hit save on your LinkedIn profile – which is, in essence, your online resume – without first listing your skills? It’s astounding how many intelligent businesspeople – from board members to COOs – upload partial profiles on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn recommends that business professionals list specific, quantifiable skills on their profiles. The more finely tuned the listed skills, the more quickly headhunters (and LinkedIn’s search algorithms) will see the value in your experience. Effectively utilize the “skills” section on your LinkedIn profile by supplementing your hard-earned professional skill set with specific, endorsable soft skills. Valued skills vary from industry to industry, but LinkedIn research concludes that certain soft skills have a higher rate of return on job inquiries.

Adaptability
Levelheadedness under pressure
Analytical thinking

The Power of Endorsements

Writing an excellent LinkedIn profile is only the beginning of creating a strong personal brand. When a colleague feels you excel in a certain area, they can endorse a correlating skill. This tells recruiters you’re not “resume-padding” and allows coworkers to easily advocate your talents. A few things to remember about LinkedIn endorsements:

Endorsements are a two-way street. If a colleague endorses a skill on your profile, common courtesy dictates you endorse one of their skills as well.
That said, every endorsement reflects on your professional image. Don’t endorse someone on LinkedIn if you wouldn’t recommend them in person.
Coworkers can endorse skills that are not listed on your profile. You can later add those skills (and the attached endorsement) to your LinkedIn page.
Users with robust skills and endorsements are 13% more likely to find new careers.
More specific skill endorsements (e.g. endorsing SEO instead of Marketing) build better professional connections.
If an endorsement doesn’t enrich your personal brand, remove it from your profile.

Have questions about creating a powerful profile on LinkedIn? Call Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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3 Tips to Maximize LinkedIn Marketing

Most business professionals are familiar with LinkedIn’s online networking system, but few know just how many career opportunities bypass them daily. Executives are inundated with personal branding and social media marketing information. In the wake of so much information, it’s advantageous to take a step back and remember the basics of LinkedIn marketing.

How to Successfully Navigate LinkedIn

Mine recommendations, not endorsements. “Endorsement” is the buzzword in the LinkedIn personal marketing sphere, but as with any networking tactic, the more personal option makes a better professional impression. Accept endorsements from respected colleagues for your top executive skills, but don’t ask for endorsements. Instead ask a few superlative members of your executive team to write a recommendation. Recommendations are more personal, more compelling, and better display your executive skills.
Timing is everything. The key to LinkedIn success is to stay active, even if you’re not actively searching for a new career. Follow revolutionary leaders in your industry, update your profile to reflect new challenges and skill sets, and refrain from asking for multiple recommendations and endorsements at once. LinkedIn timestamps their data, making it obvious to recruiters (and your current employer) when you’re scrambling to update your LinkedIn profile in the hopes of landing a new job.
Give and take. Networking is not solely about seeking opportunities, but about forming mutually beneficial business relationships. If a business associate endorses one of your top skills, peruse their profile for a skill you can substantiate. When you write a professional recommendation on LinkedIn, ask your connection to return the favor. Be specific about which professional successes, leadership situations, and executive skills you’d like them to praise. But remember to choose your connections wisely. Endorsing the merits of a coworker is not simply a reflection of them, but of you as well.

Executive Resumes Atlanta is an Atlanta-based executive-level career marketing service. Call Colleen for more information about how a professionally written LinkedIn profile can help maximize your career success.

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3 Ways to Develop Your Personal Brand

Many executives lack the time, the skills, or the patience to develop a compelling and concise personal brand. Here are 3 guidelines for personal branding success from the high level career builders at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

Develop authenticity. In unskilled hands, executive self-promotion can come across as shortsighted braggadocio or a carefully crafted falsehood. The advent of social media has created a world of transparency in personal branding and online communication. Business executives should take care not to overshare in their online profiles, but authenticity is key to any personal branding effort. Develop a clear, focused brand that’s easily recognizable, both to those who know you in the real world and to contacts who only know you virtually.
Strategize. Developing a strong personal marketing brand requires time, forethought, and skill in executive promotion. Users who regularly update their LinkedIn profiles, monitor their networks for industry developments, and interact with online associates increase their likelihood of career advancement. Identify your personal marketing goals and map a plan for effectively establishing your brand within your target audience. If you don’t have the time or skills to effectively develop your personal marketing strategy, hire a professional career marketer to optimize your online presence.
Move beyond social media. Networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook can have a significant impact on a professional’s career prospects, but social media isn’t the only way to achieve executive success. Businesspeople who successfully expand their professional networks use a combination of real world and virtual marketing techniques. In addition to creating an active, enticing LinkedIn profile, executives should attend local networking events, create an impactful resume, and build strong working relationships with their peers.

The executive career marketers at Executive Resumes Atlanta have the skills and experience necessary to create an impactful personal brand, both virtually and in the real world. Contact our professional resume writers to strategize your career objectives, optimize your personal branding efforts, and advance your career.

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Find a New Career without Getting Fired

No one envies the frustrating and often disheartening task of making job hunting your career, but finding new opportunities when you’re already employed comes with its own set of complications. Whether you’re stuck in a job you hate or you’re simply suffering career ennui, it’s challenging to find a new job without burning bridges. Find a fulfilling executive career without losing your current one by rethinking the way you network.

Change Your Approach to Networking

Building a network of likeminded professionals is indispensable in landing a new executive position. Unfortunately, it also alerts others to your intentions. Instead of attending networking events and hoping your employers don’t find out, approach professional gatherings as learning experiences. Volunteer at industry events instead of attending as a guest, and attend educational conferences instead of networking dinners. Not only will you build a strong executive network without tipping off your employers, you may also learn applicable skills for your future career. If you discuss a potential new position while attending an executive networking function, ask your prospective employer to keep your job search confidential.

Manage Your Online Updates

The most common mistake job seekers make is failing to manage their online presence. Effective personal branding can help executives reach new career opportunities, but it can also cause trouble at work. To make the most of new job opportunities without losing your current career, make sure you’re correctly managing your online personal marketing.

Stay active on LinkedIn. Personal branding experts recommend using LinkedIn frequently, even if you’re not looking for a job. Not only does this approach mask your search when you do want a new career, it helps executives build solid professional networks before they need to utilize them.

Manage your privacy settings. The quickest way executives reveal their job searches to employers is easily avoidable. Refrain from mentioning your job dissatisfaction on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn is a powerful executive networking tool, but mismanaging your settings could tip off connections at your current company. Make sure your contacts don’t get updates every time you make a new connection, search for a career opportunity, or revamp your LinkedIn profile. By managing your privacy settings on LinkedIn, you can protect yourself from inadvertently revealing your intentions to your boss. As an added bonus, you won’t inundate new connections with notifications each time you reword your executive successes.

Executive Resumes Atlanta has the tools and experience to manage every aspect of your career search. Call our professional personal branding service to write your executive resume, manage your LinkedIn profile, and help you cultivate career opportunities.

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The Art of Executive Self-Promotion

Professionals who have spent any amount of time in executive positions have a long list of tangible contributions they’ve brought to their company. However, many executives—particularly female executives—feel uncomfortable when enumerating their accomplishments. A fixation on past successes can halt the progress on an otherwise promising career, but self-promotion in and of itself has more benefits than drawbacks. To take your executive career to the next level, learn to effectively analyze and promote your leadership skills.

Learning to Self-Promote

Is Your Self-Promotion Effective?

Self-promotion is a valuable skill for networking and career advancement. The difficulty in effective self-promotion is learning how to discuss professional skills and successes without alienating your audience. Successful executive self-promotion involves:

Objectively analyzing your executive skills, measurable successes, relationships with peers and subordinates, and contribution to the forward motion of your company before self-promoting.
Listening for social cues that would make self-promotion appropriate.
Starting with basic, quantifiable facts about your job performance and leadership influence. List your accomplishments frankly, without pride or quantification, to refute potential disputes.
Framing your contributions within the grander narrative of company vision and business success. By incorporating other employees, leadership lessons, and the more humanizing aspects of your success, you can connect with your audience and share meaningful personal contributions without sounding conceited.

The Negative Impact of Unskilled Self-Promotion

Executives shy away from self-promotion because, frankly, so many CEOs do it poorly. Thoughtless self-promotion often comes across as vanity or shortsightedness. When honing your self-promotion skills, take care to avoid these professional pitfalls:

Isolating yourself from your peers by focusing only on your own achievements.
Losing sight of upward expansion by leaning too heavily on past successes.
Creating an artificial vision for the company in the name of self-promotion.
Failing to ascertain when self-promotion is necessary and when it will undermine the culture of teamwork within your corporation.

The professional resume writers at Executive Resumes Atlanta are experts at executive promotion. Call us to develop your executive resume, build your personal brand, and coach you on executive self-promotion.

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