Here’s an excerpt from a .pdf I’m putting together. Download the complete The Web 2.0 Job Search: Quick Tips by clicking the link.

How to Use LinkedIn to Find Your Next Job:

1. Personalize your profile URL
2. Get a MINIMUM of 5 recommendations with at least one from every job you have held. Write unsolicited recommendations for co-workers as well. Chances are they will return the favor.
3. Connect to everyone you meet, immediately after meeting them.
4. Set you public profile to visible.  The more open your profile, the likelier you are to get found in a search.
5. Create a headline for yourself, beyond your job title.
6. Include a link to your profile in your resume.
7. Find where your former co-workers are working & reach out to them to see if there are openings at their current companies.
8. Download a .csv of your contacts and email out a short & simple blast, letting your network know you are in a search.
9. Skip HR – find the hiring manager.
10. Add keywords that a recruiter might use in a search to your Summary & Specialties section. Make sure to include specific technologies.
11. Link everything: Twitter to status updates. Add your blog. SlideShare presentations. Amazon reading list. Everything.
12. Post INSIGHTFUL comments on discussion boards, and try to get several ‘Best Answers’ under your belt.
13. Starting a group is a great way to get exposure as well.
14. Be as complete as possible and make sure your profile matches EXACTLY with the content on your resume.
15. Include a professional (and ONLY a professional) picture in your profile.

Something I thought you’d all like to know about – this is another part of being innovative in your job search, beyond the Top-10 Lists!

Check out Zack’s blog at http://www.sixdegreesofzr.com:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

With the digital ad space growing exponentially in terms of company and personnel, it is no longer possible to know all of the players or to stay connected with people who should be in your network of influence. Yet due to the rapid growth, it is all the more reason for us a a community to stay close knit, particularly when it comes to recruitment and job openings.

While every industry has publications and organizations to post available jobs, I felt what was lacking in digital was a personal resource to distribute timely information. That is why in January, I launched a network that would bring people within “six degrees” of me together for the purpose of connecting great people, opportunities, and ideas.

With SixDegreesofZR, I distribute via email a monthly newsletter (the first Tuesday of the month) which gives individuals a chance to post their resume and job searches, and companies a chance to post new job openings. In each job search posting, I offer a brief summary of how I know them and why I would hire them. New to SDZR are opportunities for free PR as well as participation in a new NYC mentoring program, which will bring seasoned veterans together with junior level advertising people for the purpose of furthering their careers.

At present my data base consists of CEO’s, head of Sales and Marketing, international companies, PR people, thought leaders, and everyone in between. It began with about 550 people and in the past few months has grown to over 1,300 contacts. As for placing talented people in new jobs, we are approaching our  tenth match. It has been an amazing process to watch!

If you are currently looking for work, are curious about what else is out there or have a job to post, please reach out to me in confidence at zrosen2@gmail.com and introduce yourself. There is no cost… I just want to continue helping good people find meaningful career paths.

–
Zack
Cell: 410 908 0336
http://www.sixdegreesofzr.com

The conventional wisdom holds “don’t diss your competitors” .  Negative speech about your competitors reflects poorly on your own product/ company/ service.  That’s probably generally true. But I’m going to break that rule because there’s something out there that’s starting to make me angry.

Hey, The Ladders Resume Writing Service – listen up, I am throwing down!

In the past two weeks alone, we have received 7 (!) resumes from job seekers who first went through TheLadders and were unhappy with the service.  We’ve received dozens more over time, but I just recently decided to track it.  Each of those 7 folks paid a minimum of $750 for the service…

and got diddly squat back.

Now they’re turning to Freedom Resumes either to fix TheLadders’ mistakes, or to get something done at all, because their initial resume writer didn’t produce.  Of course, we are grateful for the business.  But I am still furious at the scam.

Let me break it down a bit more.

TheLadders has a quality, brand name. That’s something we’re still working on, but in the start-up phase, we certainly don’t have that kind of rep. TheLadders is, rightfully, trading on that brand name. So they can charge $750 a resume (an obscene price from my perspective…). But they have a serious obligation to maintain their reputation and DELIVER A QUALITY PRODUCT.

TheLadders is in the unique position of being able to take advantage of a great many people who will trust them for resume advice simply because of the size of the company and the strength of their reputation. When job seekers pay $750 to TheLadders, it’s not just because they expect an excellent product, but because they understand they are paying a premium for the brand. TheLadders holds their trust.  Taking advantage of that trust by charging a wacky price, for a product that took their resume writers less than an hour to produce (and I think that’s being generous), is an astonishingly bad business practice, and unfair to people who are already stressed out and spread thin from being in a job search.

Here’s how Freedom Resumes works, as a comparison.

We typically charge $250 per resume.  For that $250, we generally have a minimum of 3 conversations with our client. Those conversations last at least 15 minutes, and frequently exceed an hour.  So let’s average it out to 30 minutes per call. In other words, at $250 we’re typically committing 1.5 hours just to speaking with our client.  Then, a normal resume re-write (you have an existing resume but it needs editing), takes an average of 2.5 – 4 hours to complete. Let’s take the lower end of that. We’re now at automatically committing, at a minimum, 4 hours of time, per client. Now, let’s add in: the time of the 2^nd resume reviewer (every resume gets 2 pairs of eyes), + the follow up after we’ve sent the final draft + the 6 month commitment to free revisions, and you’re looking at an average of 5-6 hours spent on a resume. For $250. Add onto all this, that every resume we write is completely tailored to YOUR needs. No prefab, auto fill spots. No standard list of edits. No so-called ‘core-competencies’ sections. We build from scratch EVERY SINGLE TIME.

There’s a massive difference between a Freedom Resume’s product and whatever it is you’re getting from TheLadders.

I know it’s bad form to insult a competitor.  But to me, it’s much worse form to take advantage of people.

I’m proud of the Freedom Resumes product. I think we deliver excellent resumes at a great value. And we’re upfront with our clients about what the costs are and where they go.  I am personally invested in the success of the company and I will do my best to make sure every client is happy with what they get.

Can the TheLadders say the same thing?

Stay tuned for my next blog post about some other beef I’ve got (unless my wife convinces me not to).

Had a different experience with TheLadders? Am I off base?

Post comments below J

Sean

I hate writing resumes. It’s a pain. There is nothing fun about it. It takes a large amount of time, mental and psychological commitment, and frankly, it’s hard to produce a quality product.

So why do I do it?

Because it matters.

Seriously, it matters.  If you’re a former client, or a soon to be client, or just someone who found this blog online, it doesn’t make a difference – I know you’ve gone through the frustration of writing a resume.  All of us have (including that hiring manager you’re waiting to hear back from).

It’s hard to write a resume. Not just because it’s difficult to write with clarity. Or persuasively. Or concisely. Or because you’ve done so much you don’t want to leave anything out. Or because you feel you’ve done so little that you have nothing worthwhile to say. Those are all true and relevant, but none are the real reason for why writing a resume is so difficult.

It’s because it matters.

A resume is your introduction. Your first hello. It is the one and only time where you have complete control over how another person views you. Up until you get an interview, you’re not a person, just a resume. And that’s a heckuva  scary thought. Especially when you are in an active job search and it’s a bad economy.

That same fear you go through when you first email out your resume to a prospective hiring manager, I go through when I send you a copy of the first draft.  You, the client, are my hiring manager.  I want to make sure the product I produce meets your standard. Because when it goes out there, it is your name on it.

I take every resume I write so seriously because I know how essential the resume will be to my client’s job search. I bleed, sweat and toil (well, maybe not sweat) over resumes because I know how deeply they can matter.  But that’s what makes it worth it. When I, or a Freedom Resumes team member, or anyone at all, writes a resume that they can be proud of they’ve accomplished something significant. And all the pain will have been worth it.

So, yes, I hate writing resumes. But it is always worth the pain.

Agree? Disagree? Post a comment below.

Sean