Prepping for a big interview? Many think that some people are natural interviewees and that those with outgoing personalities will do better in an interview. But with practice everyone can learn how to interview effectively. Download your free copy of  33 Interview Tips to Make a Great First Impression for some quick tips on how to create a more powerful interview strategy.

Each year, Career Directors International hosts the resume writing industry’s most prestigious Toast of the Resume Industry™ (TORI) resume writing competition. Resume writers from around the world compete for awards in 9 writing categories and Career Solvers has made it to the final round! Career Solvers has received 15 nominations in the past and 6 wins. Each time the competition gets bigger and fiercer and that’s part of the fun. I’m honored to be part of a competition with some of the best writers in the world.

I was recently interviewed by Adrienne Mitchell of Market Watch Radio Network about resumes. You can hear my tips for making the most of keywords and writing compelling profiles and accomplishment statements here.

Ok, I admit it. I’ve fantasized about being a judge on one of the many reality TV competition-style shows like Project Runway or Top Chef and I’ve thought about how cool it would be to say “You’re out!” in my best Heidi Klum voice. I may never get a chance to judge something on national TV, but I’m happy to say that this year I was selected as a judge for the TORI (Toast of the Resume Industry) awards competition hosted by Career Directors International. Resume writers from all over the world compete for the coveted first, second, and third place spots in a handful of resume categories. I’ve won 6 TORIs and I am very proud of them.  So it’s an honor to now be selected as a judge.

And like the judging process for some of the TV competitions we watch, this is no cakewalk. The competition is fierce with hundreds of  entries…one weak summary statement, a formatting error or design flow, or (gasp) a typo and you are told to pack your bags and leave. Well not exactly, but you get the gist.

The entries this year were incredible. Selecting the best was quite difficult. All the nominees deserve high praise. You can learn about the “awesomeness” of some of the competition’s past resume writing divas on the Career Directors International site. The winners of the 2010 competition will be announced at the Career Directors International annual conference next month and the winning resumes will be posted soon after. But as far as I’m concerned, all the contestants are winners. A good writer is one who tries to get better every day. And that’s what a competition like the TORIs allows professionals in my industry to do.

I’m headed out to Dallas to present a hands-on workshop on social media strategies for job seekers to my colleagues at this year’s National Resume Writers’ Association Conference.

Resumes are an important marketing tool, but I believe that a resume is naked without a corresponding social media strategy. Over 90% of recruiters perform Internet searches on candidates before making a hiring decision, and more than half of employers solidify their decision to hire based on a strong online presence. Today’s job seeker needs a robust and digitally distinct web presence in order to compete for positions in the 21^st century. If someone searches for information about you online, what will be found? Ask yourself these questions.

• Do I exist online?

• Am I a “John Doe” who is difficult to locate online because there are many people out there with the same name?

• Is the information about me online relevant to my professional identity and is it accurate?

• Is there any damaging information about me online that a hiring manager could uncover?

If  you don’t currently have a strong or targeted online presence, the good news is that you can create and manage one very quickly and move from digital dud to digital rock star. Here’s how our online identity program works.

1. Comprehensive audit of your online identity. We will scour the Internet to uncover all mentions of you and your affiliations online. Based on our findings we will make recommendations for placement on online identity and networking sites to build your digital footprint and create new and sustainable visibility for your candidacy.
2. Traditional and online bio. A powerfully written, branded bio placed strategically across multiple online identity and networking sites can quickly build your value proposition and facilitate a dialogue between you and the hiring authority. We will create a bio that focuses on your core competencies, market differentiators, and compelling stories of professional success.
3. Profile creation. Once the online audit and bio are completed, we will make recommendations for profile placement on up to five online identity and networking sites. Each package is customized to the needs of the individual client. Online communities each have their own tone and culture and we will match your brand to the online communities that are most likely to contribute to your career success. We manage all administrative aspects of the profile creation for you including password creation, linking, image uploads, signature lines, and content development.
4. Online identity management coaching. We will teach you how to effectively maintain your profiles and optimize their value in just minutes a day through a one-hour tele-coaching call and electronic tips sheets.

Just interested in a particular online identity or networking tool? We can customize any of our packages to meet your needs. Want to learn more about our online identity services and receive a custom price quote? Contact us directly to discuss your specific needs.

Last week I was interviewed by Lisa Johnson Mandell and Janet Powers on their Work It Girl radio show. We chatted about a number of job search and workplace topics including:

• Is there any movement in the job market?
• Are people being taken advantage of in today’s tight economy?
• What do you do when employers tell you that you are overqualified?
• Should you “dumb down” your resume to be a better match for the job?
• Do you need multiple resumes for different positions?
• How can you find a reliable resume writing service?
• How long does the average hiring manager spend looking at a resume?
• How long should a resume be?
• What are some signs of an obsolete resume?

You can listen to the show here.

Career Solvers has formed a relationship with The Execu|Search Group to help expose our clients to a top-tier recruiting firm and a variety of exclusive job opportunities. All Career Solvers clients have the option of having their resumes placed in The Execu|Search Group’s applicant database where they may be considered for future openings in their field.

The Execu|Search Group is a full-service recruitment, temporary/consulting and retained search firm serving the City of New York and the Tri-State area. Headquartered in New York City, they have three additional offices located in Bridgewater, New Jersey; Parsippany, New Jersey; and Purchase, New York.

The Execu|Search Group opened their doors in 1985, initially focusing on linking candidates from the accounting and finance fields with top-level companies in need of highly qualified talent. Since that time, they have successfully expanded the lines of their business and broadened their expertise to include a wide range of practice areas and industries, from Health Services to Financial Services to Information Technology and beyond.

SERVICES

Based on a thorough understanding of their clients’ needs and candidates’ backgrounds, experienced recruiters work to match the right professional with the right job. Placement services include:

Full-time Placement
Specializing in recruiting professionals at the staff, middle management, and senior-level across all practice areas.

Temporary/Consulting
Offering both short- and long-term assignments, as well as temporary-to-full-time placements. Also included among their temporary opportunities are per diem, project, freelance, seasonal, and contract jobs across all of our practice areas.

Retained Search
Focusing on the placement of C-level, partner, and other senior-level executives.

WHAT SETS The Execu|Search Group APART

History
The Execu|Search Group has been a growing and leading force in the recruitment industry for over 20 years. This experience has shaped their unique approach to effectively managing the recruitment process.

Recruiters
The Execu|Search Group staff of recruitment professionals possess hands-on experience in their respective practice areas, giving them inside knowledge about the industry and how to best guide you.

Values
The Execu|Search Group conducts all of their business in accordance with the highest ethical standards in the industry. They value the relationships they develop with their clients and candidates and treat your needs with appropriate discretion and confidentiality.

If you are a current or former Career Solvers client who would like to have your resume searchable in the Execu|Search database, contact us here.

The September issue of Oprah Magazine features four women at various stages of their careers: the stay at home mom returning to work, the single mom laid off from her position and seeking a new challenge, the recent college graduate looking for her big break, and the boomer trying to make a career transition later in life.

I was fortunate to work with these women along with colleagues Louise Fletcher and Nancy Collamer to help them create a strategic job search plan. While each one has a different end goal, the course they need to take is in many ways the same. Here are some of the top tips shared with the women.

1. Ask for information rather than a job. When you ask someone if they know if anyone is hiring there is a simple yes/no response (usually no) which leaves the conversation at a standstill. Instead of asking about job openings, ask your contacts if they would be willing to talk to you to share information…about an industry, a company, a recruiter or whatever else will help get you one step closer to the ultimate hiring manager. Asking for a jobs can make the other person feel uncomfortable; asking for information can be flattering.
2. Get on LinkedIn. With 60M+ users LinkedIn has become a “must have” resource for recruiters searching for top talent. If you aren’t on LinkedIn, recruiters may come to the conclusion that you are not current, not serious, or not good enough at what you do to be in the running for their openings.
3. Be on-message. Prepare a succinct, compelling pith about what you are looking for and why you are qualified. Keep this message consistent in your resume, your online profiles, and your conversations.
4. Reach out to companies directly. Do you dream of working for Google, Starbucks, JPMorgan Chase, or the Red Cross? If so, let the employer know that. More and more companies are filling positions through employee referrals and social networking and many never even post their open positions. Become an insider by reaching out to companies and expressing your interest before they have a job opening. If you can become top of mind with them, you increase the likelihood of being considered, should a position become available, or better still of having a position created for you based on the outstanding value the employer thinks you could bring to the organization.

After several weeks of job search preparation, (and some fabulous hair, makeup, and wardrobe makeovers courtesy of Oprah Magazine’s creative team), the women are out working their contacts, setting up networking meetings and interviews, forwarding resumes, and working with recruiters.

You can read more about each woman’s transformation by picking up the September issue (sorry, no link currently available) on newstands now.

Last year I went on multiple interviews for six different consulting assignments. It’s kind of strange to go on interviews when your profession revolves around teaching others how to interview. It’s often a humbling experience and sometimes I don’t even take my own advice. I thought I was perfect for each of these roles. But my definition of perfect didn’t always jive with the hiring manager’s. My skills were never in question, however, there are a lot of circumstances that affect the hiring manager’s decision besides competency. Sometimes I couldn’t see past those obstacles. Here are a few of the tapes that were playing in my head as I interviewed for different positions. Do any of these sound like you?

1. I should be a shoo-in. The first position sounded perfect. The organization was looking for someone to do job search training with a focus on social media tools. No one in their current organization had any knowledge on how to leverage these tools in a job search and I had many stories of success to prove my expertise in this area. I went though multiple interviews and everyone assured me that the final interview with the CEO was just a formality. And while I hit it off with everyone, the company decided to go in a different direction shortly thereafter and there never was an offer. I guess I didn’t fit in with the company’s rebranding strategy.
2. I’m a quick learner. This opportunity had me both excited and neurotic for a good month. The project was a huge undertaking and had the potential to catapult me to a new level professionally. My credentials and track record as a career professional moved me into the final round of interviews. But I had never done exactly what the employer wanted me to do and didn’t have an existing infrastructure to support it. And even though I’d mapped out every nuance of every operational scenario, in the end it wasn’t enough to convince the hiring authority that I was the right person to come in and hit the ground running.
3. I’m perfect for this role…with a few minor adjustments. Next I interviewed for a role that played to all of my strengths…resume writing, coaching, training…it looked like a “no brainer” to me. But the hiring manager was looking for a greater time commitment than I could offer. I tried to massage the position to give him what he needed in a compressed time frame but that just didn’t work with his company’s corporate culture.
4. Of course you’ll hire me…you really need me. The next opportunity was to do some operational consulting and service delivery for a firm that was branching out in a new direction that involved career services. The business model sounded perfect and I thought I was surely the right person to help bring the new service to fruition. But the sales team quickly realized that the sales cycle for the product will take much longer than their original predictions, so I’m still waiting for my first assignment to materialize.
5. I know I don’t look like what you are used to…so what’s the problem? Next I was interviewed by a CEO to deliver a fairly large service contract. At the same time he was interviewing professionals from Fortune 500 firms.  He couldn’t get past the fact that my business was a boutique firm and he decided he was more comfortable with a bigger name firm.
6. I can do this job and I can prove it to you. The last opportunity was to blog on jobs and careers for a major online site.  Sure, I had my standard resume to prove my knowledge base, but what won me the job was my blog. My blog was the most authentic example of what I can do. It proved I had the technical chops for the job but more importantly it proved my commitment and passion. I was a fit. I started blogging for AOL Jobs and Careers in December. It’s a good fit and I’m really enjoying it. It was well worth the wait.

It is rare these days to have an interview process that is straightforward and linear. What looks like a slam dunk often isn’t and what you thought was the gig of your dreams might not really be the right fit at the moment. View each interview as a learning experience and practice for the next interview. Forget about being liked by everyone…it’s not about being liked…it’s about fitting in. And if you don’t get the job, there may be a good reason why, even if you can’t see it right away. The right job will come…and both you and the employer will know it when it happens.

I’m excited to announce that my second book, #JobSearchTweet will be released shortly. The book delivers 140 tweet-like tips on just about every aspect of job search. It’s a book that you can read quickly but continue to reference for the duration of your career. Resumes, cover letters, thank you letters, references, recruiters, networking, social media, interviewing, and salary negotiation are all addressed. Here’s a sneak peak at a few of the tweets.

• When writing a resume, include graduation dates; omitting them raises suspicion and calls more attention to the very thing you are trying to hide.
• Half of hiring managers read cover letters and the other half do not; but you never know which half you are dealing with so always send one when applying for an open position.
• Have a phone interview? Sit in front of a mirror to anchor you during the conversation and make you feel like you are talking to someone (even if that someone is yourself!)
• When networking, ask people you meet a lot of questions about themselves. People think you are a great conversationalist when you let them do most of the talking.
• With traditional networking you can only be in one place at a time; with online networking you can be interacting in multiple communities simultaneously.
• The negotiation process begins the moment you submit your resume and continues until the offer is finalized. You can’t position yourself at one level on the resume and expect to be compensated at a higher level later on.

Interested in the other 134 tweets? Learn more about the book here and for more job search tips follow the #jobsearchtweet hashtag on Twitter.