GUEST BLOGGER: Ken Herron Shows and Tells – Create an Online Portfolio to Help You Get Your Next Job

You have a resume.  Your competitor has a resume.  So how can you show your unique background, skills and experience to maximize your online presence and shorten your job search?   Create an online portfolio.  Beef up your existing LinkedIn profile, and create additional online resumes with VisualCV (I practice what I preach, see: http://visualcv.com/kenherron).  You can only have one profile on LinkedIn, but you can have multiple VisualCVs.  

 Here are five things you should include in your online portfolio to stand out in front of recruiters, HR professionals and hiring managers.    

#1 Your Book on Amazon  For those of us who have not (yet!) written our first book, we have likely written an article, demonstrating both our expertise and our writing skills.  If not, and if you do not yet have your own Web site or blog, self-publish your document on Slideshare.  

#2 Your Recommendations  Third parties can always tout our talents more aggressively, and more credibly, than we can ourselves.  LinkedIn has an excellent recommendation tool, and you should pursue specific recommendations from recent executives, supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers and industry leaders. You can also cite relevant recommendations in your thank you notes to interviewers to reinforce why you are the best candidate for a position.  

#3 Your Work Samples  Show off the best public domain (i.e., non-proprietary) samples of your work. For team-based work, be sure to articulate your specific contributions.  This isn’t just for marketing folks who have produced sales collateral.  Top technical executive recruiter Marsh Sutherland says software engineers should showcase samples of their best coding for download and review.  Don’t forget to include any work which has won awards!  

#4 Your Press Clippings  If you have been interviewed by, or quoted in the media as an expert in your field, be sure to include it.  If not, sign up today on Help a Reporter Out to identify opportunities to share your knowledge with a reporter on deadline who is seeking someone with your exact expertise.  

#5 You, Speaking Publicly  The golden ticket is an online video of you presenting to a roaring crowd (regardless of size).  If you do not already have this, present yourself as a confident, competent public speaker in your field by seeking out an appropriate local organization, and ask to speak at one of their upcoming meetings.  Have a friend video you – be sure to practice first, you don’t want an unexpected technical glitch to keep your brilliance from the world!  If you don’t yet have the skills to effectively speak in front of a live audience, sign up today for your local Toastmasters. Finally, if just the thought of public speaking terrifies you, upload a PowerPoint presentation to Slideshare to show your ability to clearly communicate your ideas. Use the audio feature to add your own voice to your presentation.  

Be remarkable.  Be different.  And think outside your resume!    

An award-winning global marketer, Ken Herron lives in Boston as he networks, online and offline, to find his next job.

GUEST BLOGGER: Ken Herron Shares 5 Things You Should Be Doing Online to Find Your Next Job

I am a marketing geek, who, like many of you, is “actively seeking” my next job.  Job hunt experts consistently tell us the best way to find our next job is in-person networking.  What they don’t always mention, however, is that maximizing our online presence will also help us to find our next job faster.

Here are five things you should be doing to increase the likelihood of being “found” online by recruiters, HR professionals and hiring managers.  When you submit for jobs online, they also give people helpful information supporting your submission.

#1  Use the same version of your name — everywhere
You don’t need to understand the latest SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to know that using multiple versions of your name in your resumes, online profiles and in real life makes you harder to find online. 

#2  Google, Yahoo!, and Bing yourself — weekly
Are you on the first page of search results?  Are you nowhere to be found?  Do photos and/or videos pop up showing you wearing nothing but a hat comprised of several different kinds of tropical fruit?  You should know exactly what comes up when your name is entered into the most popular search engines.

#3  Create a Google profile
I know of no other guaranteed, real-time way to get exactly the information you want about yourself — including text, photos, and links — on the bottom of the first page of Google search results for your name.  Didn’t even know Google had profiles?  Learn more at: http://www.slideshare.net/KenHerron/how-to-leverage-your-google-profile (full disclosure: this is a presentation I gave recently at a conference on the topic). 

#4  Really use your LinkedIn profile
Having a complete, up-to-date LinkedIn profile is not enough.  Actively use LinkedIn on a daily basis for online networking.  To start, update your status to network with your connections, join groups to make new connections, answer questions to demonstrate your expertise and review LinkedIn’s job postings.

#5  Cross link
Include the web links to your relevant online profiles, recommendations, portfolios, papers, presentations and videos on both your paper and online resumes.  Always include the links to the most relevant profiles (e.g., Google, LinkedIn, VisualCV, etc.) in your e-mail signature lines and cover letters.

The Internet has exploded our job search tools from a kid-size box of crayons to a warehouse club-size tub.  Take full advantage of all the different web “crayons” available, and you will dramatically shorten your job search!

An award-winning global marketer, Ken Herron (http://www.google.com/profiles/kenherron) lives in Boston as he networks, online and offline, to find his next job.

Thanks, Ken! Keep us posted on your progress!