A Job You Love

Your picture on Social networks is the killer app…You don’t believe me?

Piskorski a Harvard professor made that discovery:

“I just wondered why people spend so much time on these sites (social networks); what do they do?”

The biggest discovery: pictures. “People just love to look at pictures,” says Piskorski. “That’s the killer app of all online social networks. Seventy percent of all actions are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people’s profiles.”

Now when you register on a social network and you want to really use it, you need to … Continue Reading

When you look for a job, you send emails. And when you send emails, you send emails to unknown people or to HR people willing to get the ball rolling.

But do you know that these people are flooded with emails?

“A survey of 2,300 Intel employees revealed that people judge nearly onethird of the messages they receive to be unnecessary. Given that those same employees spend about two hours a day processing e-mail (employees surveyed received an average of 350 messages a week, executives up to 300 a day).”

300 emails /day!!

Everytime … Continue Reading

Is social networking the eldorado for recruitment? A lot is being said about social networking for recruiters but at the end of the day, everybody use social media to communicate but we don’t have real figures about the recruitment side of it.

What is the outcome? We all hear stories about a guy who found a job using twitter or another one using another social network but at the end of the day, it seems to be an illusion, news and media can distort reality.

These stories are still exceptions…

I read that … Continue Reading

Do you have recommendations on your Linkedin profile?

I have been noticing a growing trend of people exchanging favors on Linkedin of this kind:

“You write a recommendation on Linkedin for me and I will write one for you”.

They worked in the same company or exchanged information but never really worked together to be able to recommend each other. You only talked to the person twice and had a nice drink with this guy, but on that basis how can you recommend him?

These people don’t understand the principles of recommendations: they are … Continue Reading

Do you still use a Cover letter and a CV (or Resume)? Do you still use the network of your close friends and only the network of your close friends?

Guess what, you look for a job like in the 70s!

My dad is 60 this year, and just retired from his company after almost 40 years of good work. He started working there in 1971.

When he arrived in my city, he only knew my mother and had no contact at all. But at the time, he had a GSCE … Continue Reading

Do you still send Linkedin (or viadeo) invitations without personal message?

So you get it wrong!

Networking and social networking is all about quality and not quantity.

In their brilliant article, Networking Reconsidered, the authors go even further and explain that Networking is about genuine relationships where you exchange issues and real knowledge. And only time and trust will ensure this kind of relationship.

By building long term relationships and getting the trust of your contacts you will be able to develop collaborative work.

I know that I don’t share the philosophy … Continue Reading

The other day I got an email from Andrei Parakhnevitch, here it is:

“I have applied your recommendations to my current situation.
Here are some results:
- focusing on the industry / sector I am experienced in (maximum 5 tailored files sent per day) – I don’t know whether you’ve heard about a student who had sent 800! CVs and couldn’t get a job before he broadcasted his case on the BFM radio;
- networking by using alumni contacts from ESCP and joining Groups on LinkedIn;
- not posting “looking for a job” on the … Continue Reading

A couple of months ago, I lost a big project with a client. I was really gutted and wanted to get some work quickly. The day after I received a phone call from a recruiter: a company is looking to recruit a recruitment manager. I thought it would be a good idea to have different income streams. So I went to the interview to see what it was about.

The company is in the gaming industry (called W) and they were offering very good compensations. So I decided to proceed and … Continue Reading

Everyday I receive emails from people asking for free advice. I don’t know them, they don’t know me but they hope to get something for free.

Even if time is short, I always try to reply back to all the emails…Sometimes I just say I won’t be able to help you (if it is something too big as reviewing a CV or a profile).

But the worst case is when someone ask for a piece of advice and once I send an email does not reply back.

It happened to me … Continue Reading

What is a CV in 2010? (click on the link do download it!)

- You will find suprising figures

- You will find a model of CV in 2009 and a model of CV in 2010

- You will find ideas on how to develop your reputation and how to write a new CV!

Share it, criticize it, love, hate it, whatever but leave a comment on changes I should make.

For those who are doubtful about the figure “80% of companies used linkedin in 2008 as the primary source of recruitment”, here … Continue Reading

I am always amazed that recent graduates don’t know how to look for a job! (I still receive emails from graduates asking for a job!)

This article of Chris Russell made me think of the lack of job search courses at universities and business schools.

Imagine that universities spend 90% of their time (and money) to teach their students technical skills and technical courses but when these same students go out to look for a job, they don’t know some basic rules. They are unprepared and struggle to find a job…

Basically … Continue Reading

When writing this title for the post, I realized that it was a bit harsh but so true at the same time.

I mean it, it is unfortunate but true. My article, Don’t put “Looking for a job” on your linkedin status embraced exactly the same idea. I understand all the reactions I got on linkedin but I am trying to explain why this tip is valuable…

I still think that it is not an efficient way of looking for a job especially in the long run. For recruiters you have … Continue Reading

I have been receiving dozens of emails wishing me a happy new year and a merry Xmas from clients, providers, or contacts. But it is highly impersonal, I am just one of them.

Handwritten cards are a much more efficient way to let you contact remember you, it is a polite and delicate way of paying attention to someone. In this world of automation and paperless, a handwritten card is another way of communicating how much this person is important to you.

I must say that it is not green … Continue Reading

The more I spend time with job seekers and career changers, the more I realize that the most important thing in your career is not your CV, neither your network…but to be focused.

A lot of people want to be everything to everybody, “I am looking for a job in that industry but as well I want to do things in this industry as well…”. They want to keep all options opened, so they try a little of everything. But it does not work.

As long as you want to … Continue Reading

I see many people updating their status with “Looking for a job” or “Looking for new opportunities”

But do you think you make the most out of Linkedin? Do you think it is going to attract recruiters?

I think it is not the best thing to do for your reputation or your personal brand.

Why?

Because you position yourself as someone asking for something, asking for a job, waiting for things to happen, you are being passive!

Instead you could put on your linkedin status that you attended a … Continue Reading