What can Linkedin Company Pages do for me?

Linkedin Company Pages provide information and views that's helpful when targeting smaller companies as well as mammoth ones. For larger companies, Company Pages shows divisions and subsidiaries. For example, one of the companies that's been consistently near the top of reCareered's Who's Hiring articles is IBM. IBM is many companies under a single brand...many non-techies think of IBM as a mainframe manufacturer (they sold off their PC division years ago).

If you're in Finance or Sales, for instance, you'll find many places and locations within IBM that need financial and sales talent...beyond just the mainframe folks.

You may remember that IBM purchased PriceWaterhouseCooper's consulting division, and now competes with companies like Accenture & BearingPoint. Consultants know that IBM is one of the largest firms in ERP implementation, Supply Chain, and Government contracting. Looking at IBM's listing of divisions and subsidiaries, you'll also find enterprise software companies who create financial and operational software for large companies. These divisions need financial and operational talent.

You can see typical companies where IBM employees worked before IBM. This can be helpful, especially if you came from those companies or have a close contacts within those companies (IBM hires most often from PWC & HP). You can also see where IBM alums are likely go next (Microsoft & Oracle)...do you have any contacts at these companies who can introduce you to IBM'ers? Could you research Microsoft's & Oracle's new hires looking for people who just left IBM...could these represent unadvertised positions?

People:

With over 50M people now on Linkedin, Company Pages is like an internal phone directory (sorry, no direct extensions, but many email addresses). In prior years, recruiters would sell their soul (be nice, candidates) for this kind of information...now it's available to candidates, for free. Search Company Pages by division and/or location to hone in on the people who are most likely to get you to a hiring manager. If I search IBM's company page for Chicago area employees, I get over 3,000 people. I can narrow that list by keyword, specialty or division.

A separate section lists former employees...could former employees help you find the right hiring manager in a company as large as IBM?

New Hires & Recent Promotions/Changes:

Do new managers ever hire their own staff to build their own teams? Even companies that are laying off may hire new staff as well, as they change focus, strategy, or just get new blood into the company. New managers often come into a company to bring about change, and change often means new people. Recently promoted officer and managers may also have new challenges, or take over additional areas and want to staff their own teams.

Newly hired and promoted managers also give you the opportunity of communicating something other than "can I have a job?" Instead of spamming this contact with an uninvited resume, could it be valuable to congratulate your target on their promotion or hire?

Other information:

Company pages list specialties. As a candidate, why is this important? Could clicking on these specialties give you insight into other companies in the space...maybe small competitors not on your radar screen? Could specialties give you some guesses into keywords that a company might use to search Linkedin profiles and resumes?

Company pages list recent articles about the company, stock price graphs, links to Business Week articles, major locations (Does IBM have many employees where you live, in Nashville? ), demographics (maybe not a great place for women to work, as only 27% of their workforce is female, nor a great place for the guys to start an office romance)

Why is this feature hidden?

It's not hidden, but it's not exactly apparent to the casual Linkedin user. The easiest place to find Linkedin Companies is just to the left of the search bar. Most Linkedin users use the search bar to find for specific people. Click the drop down menu to the left of the search bar, select company, and search for companies on your target list.

Can you come up with other ideas of how Linkedin Company Pages can change your search methods?

Article by Phil Rosenberg, President, reCareered & Rainmakers Global and courtesy of reCareered blog.

I've been fascinated by a new book, "Why Don't Students Like School?" that offers some answers. In it, cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham looks at what techniques help students and adults think and learn effectively. I adapted some of his findings for people choosing or changing careers.

1. The Snowball Effect of Knowledge: Gain basic background knowledge of your subject or skill and it will become easier for you to learn more about it and practice it (see next step). Just dive in and start reading and talking to people who are experts in it.

2. "Sustained, Long Term Practice": Practice your new skills so many times they become automatic. That means go beyond just mastering the skill. 3 strategies Willingham recommends (my examples):

• Getting informative feedback (from peers, friends, supervisor);
• Doing other activities that will improve your skill (like Toastmasters to improve public speaking); and
• Consciously trying to improve (make a plan, set goals, ask for support).

3. Intelligence is nature (genes) AND nurture (environment) - so get to work. You can improve your intelligence - you need to believe you can improve and work on actually doing it. The fact your father was not a rocket scientist doesn't mean you can't be one. I wish I had known this about math and maybe I would have become an oceanographer instead of a lawyer.

To gain more knowledge and information about your career choice or a skill that will be required for a new job, several activities at The Career Key website will help:

Information Interviewing
Learn More About the Jobs That Interest Me
Identify My Skills
Free Agent Outlook on Work

This all just reinforces the fact that you are in the driver's seat when it comes to improving your career prospects and options. More work for the weary!

Article by, Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D. and courtesy of Career Key, striving to help all people make the best career choices, worldwide.

You do it by showcasing:

a) The results you deliver and

b) The unique way in which you deliver those results (your style, approach, attitude, values, etc)

As a potential employer, I don't really get an opportunity to assess number 2 until we meet and I get to know you better (...unless you've been introduced through a referral who speaks highly of you - which should always be the preferred approach where possible).

So instead of being a history of your professional life, your CV/resume needs to showcase the results you've delivered to date and the value you've created for your employers. Tangible, measureable, commercial outcomes that you've a track record of delivering. With percentages, $$$/£££ values, KPIs and other 'soft' measures that are credible demonstration of your success to date.

And that's the big mistake most people make.

Their CV/resume usually reads like an orbituary - a summary of every role, responsibility, education, training, hobbies, favourite holiday destinations, their preferred dessert etc.....

Okay, I labour the point - but you get my drift I hope.

If you want to stand out, then your CV or resume must be heavily focussed on showcasing the problems you've solved, the results you've delivered and benefits you're previous employers have accrued from your services.

So don't get hung up on finding the ideal layout, font, key words, length, style and all those things that many people over think when resume writing. Instead I suggest you focus on one big thing: make it much more about what you've delivered and much less about everything single thing you've done to date.

When you do it in a way that is tailored to the needs of a specific role and the needs of a potential employer (or range of employers if writing to recruiters) you start avoiding the mistake which I see so many job seekers make and maximise the chances of you securing an interview.

"But what about my experience and education?" you may ask.

Your experience and education aren't really true differentiators because there will always be someone with similar work experience and qualifications (especially in the current job market). And most of the time there will usually be someone with much more relevant experience and a far better education than you. That's life.

Of course you need to include ample attention to your experience, but differentiate yourself based on the results you have delivered and you'll have a far better chance of having your CV/resume stand out and so securing interviews.

Article by, Sital Ruparelia and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

What inspired your "The Boss" column for the New York Times?

I was writing for other columns in the business section when my editor wrote to several of us freelance contributors to announce that there would be a new column. I'm not privy to how it came about, but it's been my single most favorite thing to do.

I wish I could pick one person but I have to go with the cop out. There have been so many who have inspired me, and they can be so eloquent. People who make it to the top of a company, or entrepreneurs who make it into the column, are different from you and me!

There are a lot of young aspiring journalism majors now. Is it still possible to become successful in this area? What do they need to know?

I could give advice for hours on this. I have tech writing experience, and I'd recommend they get a second skill, too. I also have an M.B.A. They can't be shy because you have to market yourself like crazy these days. I'd find a mentor as soon as I could, and I'd learn as much about the new media as I could. I'd tell them not to think they're settling if they can't get a job at that certain newspaper. I know a young journalist who really wanted to write for newspapers but got a job writing for a travel site instead. She likes it OK, or make that a lot after being unemployed for a long time.

How has journalism helped build your personal brand? What opportunities were created for you?

Writing for the NYT is just the best thing for exposure. I actually heard from a literary agent soon after I started. (It didn't work out that time, but I did eventually find another one and wrote a book.) I've also gotten a couple offers of other assignments, too, which has been nice.

Looking back at your career, what would you have fixed or focused more on?

I love the short 1st-persons, but I'm also drawn to the long narrative form, such as those in Nieman Narrative Journal, so I guess that means I wish I'd focused more on that area.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Although for different reasons, I recommended both women use their nicknames. Nikki's brand was already built, and she wants to be found online when employers search for her. After all, she can always use Nicole in parentheses on her résumé.

A rose by any other name...

Melody, on the other hand, faces a different challenge. Although incredibly unfair, hiring managers tend to unconsciously discriminate against people whose names they feel might be difficult to pronounce. The decision was an easy one for several other reasons, though. She always goes by Melody, a perfectly professional name, and she is starting from scratch with her brand. To the world, she's not known as anything yet.

I married young - fresh out of college. And I changed my e-mail address and brand name to "Huhman" once I began searching for a job my senior year. But what if you have begun your career when you marry? After all, the average age at first marriage for women in the U.S. is 25.6 years, and I have a feeling this number is going to continue to increase.

Although there might be some who disagree with me, I recommend keeping your maiden name professionally and using your married name in your personal life (should you choose to take your husband's name at all). You've worked hard to build your brand! Why change it just because you got married?

What if you want to reinvent your brand name?

Whether your brand name is tarnished for some reason or you're simply looking to head in a new direction, it is possible to reinvent yourself - starting with your brand name. Of course, you won't be able to completely erase the old one (Internet = forever), but that doesn't mean you can't start anew.

Take a look at the nationally-known KFC, or what used to be Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's been barely more than a decade since the switch - an effort to distance the chain from fried food - so few of us have forgotten KFC's roots. But think about how far they've come in 10 years. Will we even remember what the "F" stands for in another 10?

Think about what you did to build your brand name originally, and start from the very beginning. You don't have to actually change your name like KFC did, although it might make the process easier. Perhaps you add in your middle name, or just the initial. Or maybe now is the time to bring your married name into your professional life.

Take the time to do it right

No matter your approach, take the time to build (or rebuild) your brand the right way. A hat tip to my colleague at the Personal Branding Blog, Roger Parker, for this great piece about doing just that.

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president of Come Recommended, an exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers. She is also the national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

In today's economy, you have no doubt seen more and more commercials promoting the investment in gold (which has topped $1,000 per ounce). It goes to show how much just a little bit of gold is worth. Indeed, one of the oldest usages of the word prospecting is associated with gold!

More than 18 months ago, I began to teach "prospecting bootcamps"--which packs quite a bit of prospecting fundamentals with some less common stuff many of us have yet to apply. In three hours, I cover quite a bit of material, and the volume can be overwhelming. Continue reading ...

Keith F. Luscher is author of the book Prospect & Flourish, and is a Marketing Representative with Principal Financial Group. Prior to joining Principal, he served professionals in the insurance and financial services industries as a management consultant. In that role, he advised producers on issues related to marketing and prospecting, and developed groundbreaking educational curriculum. Luscher is also a nationally known author, speaker, and expert in media, interpersonal communication and marketing.

The article goes on to give advice for how to handle "the aftermath" of negative feedback.

• Focus on the information, but ask questions like, Is the boss right? Am I doing something and don't know about it? Or is the boss just having a bad day?
• Ask for specific examples of the mistakes or bad behavior. And don't discount the boss' claims because he can't give specific examples. Instead, try to think of ways to improve the situation.
• Thank the boss for bringing the problem to your attention. "Negative feedback is better than no feedback."
• Give specific examples of what will be done to improve behavior or work performance.
• Schedule a follow-up meeting to track progress with the boss. This indicates a willingness to change.

Performance reviews are never easy, but they can be informative and useful. Employees who take the time to do self-analyses, focus on saying "I" instead of "you," and avoid playing the blame game can make the experience a lot less painful.

Receiving negative feedback or a bad performance review hurts because no one likes having his flaws or mistakes pointed out. Those employees who can separate their emotions from the process and focus on the information they're receiving could learn a lot about themselves and about how to do their jobs better.

Habits can be timesavers, like macro keys on your computer, and simplify repetitive work tasks.

However, habits can also lead to problematic behaviors, especially at work, and that's why people try to get rid of them with everything from anti-smoking patches to rubber bands to snap to stop negative thoughts.

And what's the best tool to help you break a bad habit? Your mind.

That's not only because your decision to change your patterns is the very important first step. It's because unleashing the power of your mind on your recurring routines is virtually the only way to do so successfully.

You can think of a habit as a circuit you've wired for yourself in your brain. And your conscious thought is the only effective circuit breaker there is.

The trick to effectively breaking a bad habit is to keep your conscious brain engaged with the problem as long as you can. Here are 9 steps to help you do just that:

1. When the impulse to perform your habit strikes, imagine alarms going off in your head.
2. Ask yourself what you're doing.
3. Answer honestly, as in "I'm sitting down going through e-mail instead of tackling that report."
4. Ask yourself what will happen if you continue with this behavior?
5. Answer honestly, as in "I'll waste the morning, have to stay late and get behind on everything else while I do a sloppy job on the report."
6. Challenge yourself to come up with other behaviors, as if for someone else.
7. Ask yourself to pick one of these alternative actions, just this once.
8. Do it.
9. Repeat until you feel the habit lessening its hold over you.

Some people say it takes 30 days to break a bad habit, but I'm not sure that's right. I think it takes 30 days to make a new habit, and maybe you haven't actually decided what you want to replace your bad habit with.

When you've made up your mind and are not just doing things because that's what you've always done, you might come up with more creative choices.

A Spanish proverb says, "Habits are first cobwebs, then cables." Use your mind to brush those cobwebs away and you'll become more effective at work.

Article by Danielle Dresden and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

I/ Job information of Manufacturing manager

1. Job tile:
2. Job Code:
3. Department:
4. Report to:
5. Job purpose:

II/ Key job tasks of Manufacturing manager

1. Overseeing the production process, drawing up a production schedule.

2. Ensure planned KPI's of efficiency and performance are met or exceeded.

3. Ensuring that the production is cost effective.

4. Track competencies of subordinates and provide leadership and development as required to achieve the objectives.

5. Ensure implementation and evolution of safety procedure. Continue reading ...

Sample job description courtesy of hrvinet.com

It takes courage to have a career you are passionate about, a career you enjoy, that makes a difference in the world. Seem like a lonely goal? The good news is you do not have to pursue this goal alone. You have a coach within that can assist you, a friend who gets you, listens to you, and wants to help you.

1. Push Yourself To Dream Again

Remember when you were younger and you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up? And how you blurted out, "I want to be..." to anyone who asked you? Are you doing this now as a career? If no, then why not? Why didn't you go after what you wanted? What got in the way?

What would make you happy in your career now? Push yourself to get the answer. Ask yourself what you would be doing if you knew you could not fail. What is your reply? That's what you are meant to be doing with your life.

2. Push Yourself To Be Creative

Being creative makes us happy. It fuels our souls. This is because creativity allows us to express our talents and skills to their fullest capabilities. Being creative takes us away from ourselves and our problems, and makes room for new ideas and perspectives.

Unleash your own creativity by paying attention to the yearning feeling, the voice from within that tells you to paint, write, or build something. That voice is telling you where you belong next.

3. Push Yourself To Keep Moving

I've seen countless people on the brink of success fail only because they stopped too early. The workplace can be tough sometimes. And although we know this in our heads, we forget this premise when the toughness happens to us.

Many people have used the economy as an excuse to stop moving forward. They have decided that their career goals are too hard to obtain, and as a result, have taken a break to wait for things to get better on their own. Truthfully, this is the worst thing they can do.

Those who are successful in their careers are those who did not give up. These individuals are not any different from you or me. The distinction is they kept moving. They had their good days and their bad days, but they didn't stop trying.

Article by Deborah Brown-Volkman, a top professional Certified Coach (PCC), sought-out career coach & expert, best-selling author, and the President of , Surpass Your Dreams, a successful career coaching, life coaching, and mentor coaching company that has been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal fulfillment since 1998.

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Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

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Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

If you let your belief in bad luck and superstition affect you on a daily basis, then you're setting yourself back in the job search. It really won't do you any good. With that said, there are millions of people who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia--the fear of Friday the 13th. One of the biggest symptoms of this phobia is an unwillingness to travel on Friday the 13th. There's some debate as to whether this actually has a significant effect on the travel industry, but I've heard that you can get pretty good deals when the 13th day of a month falls on a Friday. Since I'm not a big fan of superstition--especially when it comes to the job search--we're going to fly in the face of paraskevidekatriaphobia and take a look at jobs with Orbitz Worldwide. If you don't already know, they're a Chicago based online travel company. In late 1999 they were formed through a partnership between 5 major airlines--Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, and American--to compete with Expedia and Travelocity.

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Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

I am: ______________________ .

On Sunday I spoke to an audience at an event sponsored by the LA Urban Beauty Connection, supporting two philanthropies and drawing a cool, professional crowd that came out to hear experts present on the latest trends in fashion, technology and business. My topic was The Real Secret to Success in Careers and Business, How to Stay Up in a Down Economy. Of course, I was there to talk about personal branding.

Typically, I stand on a stage and talk at people (it's more exciting than that, but basically I'm the show until Q&A or the workshop portion of my personal branding presentations). But, this forum was much more "theater in the round." I was given the opportunity to do interactive, live coaching for people who had considered but never really hunkered down to do the foundational work of personal branding.

So, I opened with my signature line: "Everyday you have the opportunity to say the one thing that will change your life. I guarantee by the time we're done today, you'll know what to say, and where and when to say it."

Five statement in the personal branding process

What a great way to spend a Sunday, I thought. It was like magnifying the coaching that I do with one person, but having all these people learn from process. I started as planned, by picking one person, but when she seemed a little lost, I move to another. I wound up challenging five people in the audience to complete these 5 statements that are requisite for the personal branding process:

1. I am:
2. I excel at:
3. I do this via these methods/approaches/tactics:
4. Here's an example:
5. Here's what I'd like to do more of:

Obviously, I want the answers you'd give in a business setting, or at least an environment that would make an impression on people attending an event like the one we were at. This is a networking opportunity. This is when you're going to meet strangers; people whom you suspect are candidates for developing valuable relationships. If you do nothing else: you've got to have a crisp, clear and compelling way of communicating what you do, how you do it, and what you'd like to do more of (or what you like to do that is a departure from what you've got going on now).

When I posed this challenge to five people picked randomly from the audience, it started to feel like I was playing "stump the band," or more like "stump the brand." We all were shocked at how these obviously accomplished people were flummoxed. I re-started the presentation by using myself as an example. Here's my "I am."

I am a personal branding expert. CNBC calls me "America's top job coach." I speak to audiences and coach individuals on how to package their unique qualities, skills, aspirations, and experiences in a crisp and memorable way. I teach them how to raise their visibility in every form of media, including social media and the web - and also on conventional channels like television, radio and print. This results in their getting job offers, new clients, selling products like books and their own speaking gigs, and getting sponsors for programs - or other goals we set. I often leverage the services of my company, Pegasus Media World. For example, this year we helped a first-time author produce a bestseller that made the list on BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon. I'm hoping to help more people find great satisfaction and success, and realize their career and ambitions, in business and media.

Now, was that so hard?

Maybe it is. If you are between jobs, or in a job that isn't your ideal gig, or you've never been put in the position to develop new clients, you may not be ready to take advantage of networking opportunities. And, these opportunities don't just come when you show up at an event. They're all around you, like when you strike up a conversation with someone on the train or at Thanksgiving dinner, which might include people who know you - but remember when you were all excited about winning MVP at your little league tournament.

Getting what you want

You can't get what you want if you can't get attention for the right things. You can't get people to pay attention to your accomplishments or goals if you can't articulate them in a crisp, clear and compelling way. You've got to tell your story so your "audience" understands how you provide a benefit to other people or companies. They've got to be able to say, "Oh, so if I know someone who needs X, YOU are the greatest resource of X that I can connect to that person!"

I guess you know what I want you to do now. And, if you're not in the ideal job - so you don't want more of it - then consider how you can connect relevant current or past experience with the future one you desire, so you can prepare your own endings to my five starter sentences.

For example, one of my volunteers from Sunday's audience is a production assistant on The Bachelor. He wants to move into public relations. After the first depressing round of "can this networking opportunity be saved?" he totally got it.

We connected his proven ability to problem-solve under pressure, handle lots of personalities with grace, and his familiarity with media demands, with his new career aspirations.

Just in the time we were together - and doing the work in front of the whole group at this event - he was able to articulate this so persuasively, that the miracle of networking took place before our eyes. Another member of the audience leapt up and said, "you've got to call my friend who's with this major PR firm here in LA. She'll love you - talk to me before you leave. I've got to get you all her contact information. She is looking for someone exactly like you."

Get ready for your own happy ending today. Take my 5-sentence challenge to start or re-start your personal branding effort. With the holiday dinner coming up, it will beat re-living the last game of the series when your 13-year old teammates carried you off the field on their shoulders. You'll not only get to sit at the grown-ups' table. You'll belong there.

Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.