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Branding, once the domain of corporate America, has made the quantum leap to personal America. According to William Arruda, branding means “identifying and communicating what makes you unique, relevant, and compelling.” In basic marketing lingo, the word is “product differentiation.” Today, it means, as Arruda writes in his Reach Branding Club workbook, “understanding your attributes - strengths, skills, values and passions - and using them to separate yourself from your competitors or peers.” It’s about “clearly communicating your unique promise of value, something no one else can provide,” to your employer or client. In delivering this message to your target audience, it must meet their needs, desires, concerns, interests and expectation, says Arruda. Key points include:

* Authenticity: Your brand must be built around your passions, values, and dreams. To maintain an “edge” your offering can’t be a commodity.
* Know thyself: Highlight what makes you exceptional and promote yourself based on these attributes. What nouns, adjectives and phrases best describe you? Analyze these and adopt them within your branding statement.
* Know your competitors: You can’t stand out until you know where you stand. First, clearly describe your competitors.
* Know your target: You can’t effectively mass-market yourself. You must aim at a specific audience. Focus before firing.
* Express yourself: Based on your exceptional attributes, knowledge of your competition, and understanding of your target audience, create a brand statement - the essence of your brand. For example, the short version of mine: “Facilitating discovery.” The full statement: “Helping clients discover the power of their potential.” Here, I have positioned myself as a tool. In writing a resume for a client, I probe through a series of questions to help the client to understand the value they offer as expressed through their contributions: the programs they’ve created, the process improvements, marketing innovations, or technologies they’ve introduced. In short, their impact on the company or the community.
* Evaluate: Develop metrics or a system to measure your success. As a resume consultant, I ask clients for feedback on their project/job search - both during and after the process: How did you hear of me (yellow pages, online directories, referral, Web site?). What did you think of the information-gathering - the interview process? And I seek their input to update me during their job search.
* Evolve: Remaining relevant means adapting to change. Add new products or modifications of old ones: printed resumes = diskette resumes = CD ROM resumes etc.

In closing, I seek through the interview process, to identify a key personality trait, skill, or passion within each client and translate it into a kind of “brand statement” within their resume. For example, a construction superintendent might say, “The more demanding the challenge, the more important it is to complete the project on time, within budget.”

Blogging Along the Frontier

In 2004 Merriam-Webster announced that “blog” was the word most looked up in its online dictionary and other Internet sites. In fact, this discovery led to “bloggers,” those who create and use blogs, being named people of the year by Time magazine. And Fortune magazine named blogs as the number one technical trend of 2004. A blog, as most of us know now, is a journal kept by an individual and made available on the Web. The word’s etymology is derived from “web log.” Habitual users, as Joseph Epstein wrote in a Wall Street Journal column in 2005, should probably be called “blogophiles,” which I guess makes me, according to Epstein, a “blogophobe,” since I am still shuffling, very unequivocally, two years later and much behind the trend, to jump on the “blogwagon” (this term, unabashedly, I will credit to myself) and implement into my business. Beyond these thoughts, here’s what I’ve learned:

* Since blogs are journals, so to speak, our clients could use them to promote their personal brands and enhance credibility and visibility. If well-executed, a blog would be a valuable networking and image-building tool.
* They create “community.” Readers can comment on one’s posts.
* They’re easy to create (no knowledge of HTML is needed).
* They provide a simple way to post new content on your Web site.
* They’re search-engine friendly - and can help drive traffic to a practitioner’s Web site.
* Using TypePad resumes, or excerpts from a resume, can be posted (with some technical ability) online. However, it would be better to provide links on the blog to downloadable versions (Word, ASCII, PDF) of the resume available online.

Google Me, Google You

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “You’re a nobody unless your name Googles well.” Depending upon your point of view, I’m either a somebody - or a nobody. My name, actually, Googles well. Unfortunately, I’m not the Douglas Morrison referred to on the Web. As of August 24, 2008 on Google, there were more than 432,000 listings for Douglas Morrison (many redundancies, though I’m ranked #4), including a great many for James Douglas Morrison (aka Jim Morrison, the late rock star/poet, of The Doors), whose name Googled so well, I couldn’t compile an accurate tally.

Today, if you’re looking for a job, both employers and recruiters alike are looking at you. A 2005 poll conducted by Harris Interactive indicated that 23 percent of people search the Web for the name of a business associate or colleague before meeting them. And hiring managers and recruiters Google prospective candidates as well. In fact, more than 80 percent of executive recruiters use search engines, like Google, to learn more about candidates, according to a recent survey by ExecuNet, the executive networking firm.

This practice, I’ve recently learned, has developed into quite a cottage industry. Over the last several years, commercial services have sprung up to simplify the process. These include, for example, Ziggs, LinkedIn, ZoomInfo (formerly Eliyon) and Ryze. Such sites allow users to easily and quickly create their own online professional profiles and include information like employment history, education, or even a photo. Recently (in hopeful expectation of becoming somebody), I joined LinkedIn. Now I’m a somebody, one of 39 illustrious somebodies, most, I’m sure, much more illustrious than me. And a cross-reference directory check on ZoomInfo revealed that I was also one of 226 Douglas Morrisons. So far I’m uncertain how I will use my new-found “somebodieness” to lucrative advantage, but according to Webworkerdaily.com, there are at least than 20 ways to use it as a business-building tool (see webworkerdaily.com /2007/06/15/20-ways-to-use-linkedin-productively), for a detailed explanation).

In closing, if we are to maintain a competitive edge, grow a business, or seek a new job, we must use technology which has irrevocably altered the architecture of our business landscape.

Doug Morrison, a Charlotte based resume writer, has been helping executives write their resumes for over 20 years. His North Carolina resume writing service has helped thousands of sales and marketing professionals add adrenaline to stagnant careers. Call 800-711-0773 or e-mail doug@CareerPowerResume.com for a complimentary resume consultation and put the life back in your career.

Online Job Hunting Hints By Penelope Trunk

No matter whether the job market is good or bad, the best jobs require talent before you walk in the door you need to know how to use the Internet effectively in your job search. Here are six tips to help you improve your online results:

1. Big job sites cater to applicants who understand the importance of keywords. Only three to five percent of jobseekers find employment through online job sites. In order to be one of this small percentage, you need to tailor your resume to keyword searches. “Sending a resume to a big company’s website is like sending your resume into a black hole,” warns John Sullivan, human resources consultant and professor of management at San Francisco State University. “In a big company, your resume is sorted by an applicant tracking system.”

High-profile companies receive thousands of resumes a month and the tracking system sorts them by skills. Sullivan tells of a study where researchers took a job opening and wrote 100 ‘perfect’ resumes for that opening. Then the researchers added 10 percent more information to the resumes. Of those resumes, only 12 percent were picked up by the tracking system as qualified. This demonstrates that even if you are the perfect candidate, if you submit your resume blindly to a large company, there is almost a 90-percent chance that no human will ever see it.

But you can increase your chances by knowing how to use keywords in your resume. “Recruiters locate individuals based on a certain skill set of the job they are looking to fill,” explains recruiting advisor Matt Millunchick. So try to imagine how someone else would use a search box to find you, and be very specific about your skills.

These rules also remain true if you post your resume to an online database. The mass of resumes on job sites is so unruly that human resources departments are paying people in India $20 an hour to sort through resumes and find the best ones, according to David Hanley, owner of Recruitn.com. So, even in this case, keywords are your best friend.

2. Don’t depend on your resume. The typical resume is linear, which makes people without linear careers look like a mess. The resume highlights work gaps in a negative way and leaves little space for achievements and experiences that did not somehow contribute to corporate life.

“The marketplace is changing and the life experience that informs the work that people do is changing,” says Anne Burdick, information designer and professor at Art Center College of Design. The static linear resume is not an effective way to convey this new experience, so don’t lead with it.

Dana Zemack, a publicist, got an agency job by abandoning the conventional resume: She wrote a letter to the agency about how she had been throwing large, elaborate, chocolate tasting parties and charging admission. Zemack explained that, at first, she publicized the parties to make sure she’d make enough money to pay for the festivities. But then she realized that she had talent as both a party planner and a publicist, so she started planning bigger and bigger parties. “I used my own endeavors as an experiment to see how far I could go as a publicist,” she wrote. On a second page, she listed the publicity she was able to generate for the parties.

It worked. She got the job. Which leads to tip number three:

3. Go local. Smaller companies posting on smaller job sites don’t care whether prospective employees have a resume optimized for computer screening. This is how Zemack found her job.

Another way to go small is to join professional groups on MySpace.com. These are people who will know where jobs are. Also, Millunchick says recruiters search for marketing and technical people through these groups.

4. Focus on the referral. Eighty percent of available jobs are not posted on job boards. But people who work at companies with hiring needs know what positions are available. And employers love referrals, because referral employees have such low turnover.

In fact, many companies pay employees tens of thousands of dollars for a successful referral. Pander to that carrot system by offering yourself up to an employee at one of those companies.

Find people to refer you by looking on sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Linkedin. Do keyword searches to see if your friends of friends have jobs at companies that interest you.

Offline networking works, too. It’s just slower. There’s no keyword search when you walk into a party. But once you’ve made an acquaintance, you can Google the person to find their connections.

5. Stalk your dream job. If you know your dream job but you have no connections, identify a key person to talk to, and use the Internet to get in touch with them: Find an email address, phone number, a conference your target is speaking at. Then ask for an informational interview.

You are far more likely to get a job from an informational interview than from blindly sending resumes. Most people will be flattered by your request and will give you some of their time. Remember, though, that an informational interview is not the time to ask for a job. But often, if you make a good impression, the person will help you get hired.

6. Make your own job. Zemack’s career really took off when she created a job for herself throwing chocolate tasting parties. She is still genuinely touched by each person who turned out for those early parties where she bet her credit rating on herself. And in the end, she discovered something that is not a new rule at all: That believing in yourself and creating avenues for your own success attracts a magnificent network of supporters.

Penelope Trunk writes the Brazen Careerist blog. Her new book, Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success (Warner Business Books, 2007), is available at Amazon.com. E-mail her at penelope@penelopetrunk.com.

Job seekers turn to blogging

A unique approach to the job search that’s showing promise is the blog.

Ask John Lynk on Patriot Drive in Salisbury. The land development project manager has raked in more solid leads to a new career in the two weeks he launched “The Ultimate Job Search” than all the nine months he’s been out of work and job hunted the traditional resume-submission route.

“It definitely has reaped some success,” Lynk says of his Internet site that landed over 300 hits in about 14 days. “I spend a great number of hours on the Internet. I’ve taken inferences and apply to leads I get. It’s a lot of effort and time, but I make contacts and you cut your search in half by having contacts.”

Not even Careerbuilder and Monster.com Web sites have brought Lynk as many prospective opportunities, and a serious job searcher with little to no luck so far could hit pay dirt with the tool trending upward as an out-of-the-box route to landing employment, says Bonnie Burke, a human resources expert. She’s noticed the trend toward self-promotion by prospective employees who are spreading their name, desire to work and skills across the World Wide Web.

Self-promotion through technology is growing more popular, replacing the traditional scouring of classified ads and other listings, then forwarding the typical cover letter and resume by postal or electronic mail.

“I’m seeing people do various things like this to get a job — the market is bizarre. They don’t know what to do,” said Burke, whose Marion Station-based Shore Staffing employment agency matches health care professionals, including nurses and therapists, with employers for both part-time and permanent placement. “I have 25 years in the human resources field– I’ve been a recruiter since the early ’80s — and there is a trend toward creativity in looking for a job.”

Much of the credit in Lynk’s case is owed to his wife, Marly, who trained as a psychologist. “She set up the blog. We told people a little bit about myself: My plight, being out of work nine months,” he said. “I had taken the normal channels, attended job fairs, connected with recruiters. But since the blog started, I’ve been invited to interview for a job next week.” Blogging to work

Lynk stays linked in to job search sites on the Internet, including for-fee Upladders.com that for a $35 payment connects job seekers with employers willing to dole out six-figure salaries, he said.

Months ago, Lynk stumbled upon an interesting opportunity through the employment site Monster. And it was off to Arkansas recently where he touted his 22-year experience. Truth be told, the Phoenix, N.Y., native favored the lifestyle on the Lower Shore and said, ‘Thanks, but no.’

“So many people with experience in housing, construction, are looking for a job because of the construction slump as a whole,” Lynk said. “I had experience with housing residential, commercial and heavy highway, but I didn’t think it was a good fit.”

He’s also interviewed with firms in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York, but nothing panned out.

Lynk gets another shot to sell his skills on a job interview later this week with a firm he did not want to name. He thinks the blog was the attraction with the employer.

“I’m interviewing Thursday,” he said. “I applied for it two months ago and it’s coming to fruition. I don’t know if the interview is a direct result of the blog, but since the blog started, I’m interviewing.”

Trained professionals in industries tied to the now-slumped housing market are being hit hard by corporate downsizing that factored in his job loss in January at Greenvest, a land development company, Lynk said. Before then, he worked for developer Syntex Homes in Gaithersburg, then was transferred to the Dagsboro office where he worked until a layoff.

“They have gone from 125 employees to two,” he said. “I left there in September 2006. They are not going to put up homes if nobody was buying them.”

Lynk devotes much of his spare time to his 20-month-old son, John Henry Jr., or J.J. And he checks his blog for leads. “I had two, three suggestions regarding factory work in Pennsylvania,” he says. “There’s a gamut of information (in responses.)”

With construction-related jobs running scarce, a blog could be an avenue, said Burke, who has lived on the Shore since 1993. “The market is bizarre. Health care is even kind of whacky, now.”

She also recommends Craig’s List, another alternative site on the Internet, although some sites are difficult to navigate and sometimes less specific about a particular job or skill level, Burke said.

Blogging, though, is a creative approach and alternative use of the Internet, she said.

“I sort of think that’s not a bad idea, making your own blog,” Burke said. “Creativity in looking for a job is a trend, and putting a resume on Careerbuilder and Monster are great ways to start. Then build your own Web site.

“Somebody might pick up that information,” she said.

How to find a new job in trying times

Things aren’t going as well on your current job as you’d hoped. But with bills to pay and the economy as it is, should you even be thinking about looking for something new? After all, you have a job, even if it’s not the job you dream about.

According to business communications and etiquette expert Barbara Pachter, you shouldn’t let a disheartening job market discourage you from finding the right job.

Pachter, author of “When The Little Things Count … And They Always Count,” says that tough times mean job searchers need to be more focused, and need to be persistent.

1. Approach your job search as if it was your job. If you are unemployed, work every day at your search. If you are still employed, set aside time. Prepare your resume. Set a number of connections to make each week.

2. Find a coach. Have someone with whom you check in periodically. Let him or her know how your search is progressing.

3. Google yourself. Many executives Google candidates to see what kind of information appears. Checks of Facebook, blogs or YouTube are also likely.

4. Use the old-fashioned approach, too. Yes, it’s worth it to post your resume on Web sites like Monster.com and to visit company Web sites to find job openings, but don’t forget offline methods. People still find jobs from the want ads in newspapers and at job fairs. Also, don’t forget to check your alma mater’s career center.

5. Think about who you know. People often get jobs through people they know, so let friends and relatives know you are looking. Build a network. If you aren’t already, - get involved in professional and civic organizations.

6. Never assume you’re a good interviewee. If you can, get professional help for interviewing. At the very least, role play and record yourself.

7. Thank the people who have helped. In person or with a card, thank those who have assisted you in your search.

8. Help others. What goes around really comes around, so help others. When you can, be a resource. If you hear of an opening that is appropriate for someone, let the person know.

9. Have hope. Looking for a job is a stressful experience even in the best of economic times, and if you’re unemployed, it’s even more stressful. But remember, if you’re qualified and are a good worker, you will find a job. It may take awhile, but it will happen.

Dawn Anfuso is a South Bay-based business writer and former managing editor of Workforce magazine. If you have workplace or job-search questions, e-mail Dawn at dawnanfuso@yahoo.com. Writers will remain anonymous.

Quit Shuffling Your Feet: Focus On That Job Search

Businesspeople constantly talk about focus, especially after they lose it. Job seekers have a particularly difficult time maintaining focus after they’ve established a target. This column will discuss three different people from the East, South and West and how their ability to focus simplified their job searches. All three spent eight to nine months job hunting.

John Maher, HR coordinator at EF Education First Ltd., in Cambridge, Mass., brought experience that worked for and against him. He’d been an HR coordinator for a leading multi-national luxury hotel for about a year and, after moving to Boston, worked at the chain as Club Lounge manager, where he managed six concierges.

“I wanted to return to HR, even if that meant leaving the bigger company I’d become a part of,” he says. “In some people’s eyes, I’d passed the level of professional experience to be an HR coordinator. In other people’s eyes, I didn’t have enough HR experience for another HR coordinator role.” Seemingly random feedback about the problem made it impossible for him to see a pattern and re-target his efforts.

His solution was somewhat simple — keeping his eye on the ball and heeding the confidence-building words of his recruiter. She reminded him, he recalls, that “any organization hiring could be looking for something very specific, that not meeting their requirements” only indicates lack of fit.

In addition, Maher networked to sharpen his resume and get ideas about how to approach his search. The fact that he was working full-time, with benefits, infused a feeling of security. He started his new job May 27, where the content of his work has a strong international component.

Brooke Welch, vice president and account director at San Francisco’s Van Prooyen Greenfield L.L.P., encountered quite a different problem. She knew exactly what she wanted — a job that wouldn’t require her to settle. However, the concept was one thing; its details, another. She hadn’t a clue, except that after five years in civil litigation, she didn’t want to work at a law firm. All she knew was that she’d be using her legal skills in a new environment.

“Where do I go to find this ideal job (I can’t describe)?” she asked herself. The few resources in her industry kept turning up jobs in law firms. After eight months, during which time she had a baby, she applied for one job that truly interested her. Her interviews at the boutique legal PR and Marketing firm “felt more like conversations with the principals,” she says. She loves the PR and media strategy for trials of high-profile cases.

Susan Hawkins, senior copywriter for e-commerce for The Shops at 24Seven in Norcross, Ga., writes articles and product descriptions for several sites and blogs. Her perceived liabilities, individually or combined, could daunt just about anyone: age, 59; obsolete job search skills (last job hunt: 1985); and lack of agency experience after a career in other types of jobs and business ownership.

So there she was, 59, out of the job market for more than 20 years and feeling insecure about not having agency experience. Meanwhile, she attended free job seminars to get up to speed. Removing the dates from her resume helped.

“Oddly enough,” she says, “I went to 1.5 job interviews before I got this job. “One was for a job that wasn’t a good fit, but I wanted to get my feet wet in the interviewing process. The other came to me through networking, a morning breakfast with short, round-robin interviews at a large PR firm looking for several freelance writers.”

“Networking was the key,” she continues, “even though I got my job through the Internet, because it was through networking that I got wind of workshops and events that were free.”

Online professional sites can expand your job search

Minutes after attending a seminar titled “Use Social Networking to Your Professional Advantage,” I opened my e-mail and found two new invitations to join LinkedIn.com networks.

One request came from a person I’d had professional contact with previously. I clicked “accept” and quickly went on to other things. I didn’t recognize the other name, so I closed the e-mail without response. And, thanks to Ellen Levy, I didn’t feel bad about the tacit rejection.

Levy, vice president of corporate development and strategy at LinkedIn.com, had just presented an overview of Internet social networking sites to several hundred people at the Central Exchange’s annual Women’s Lyceum, an educational and networking event.

Understanding that attendees came to the conference from many different backgrounds and levels of Web familiarity, Levy prefaced her user advice with a primer.

First, she explained, there was Web 1.0 the mostly one-directional flow of information over the Internet. Think of Web pages.

We’re now in the age of Web 2.0 an era of two-way communication that in the last three years has spawned a host of interactive social networking sites.

A show of hands indicated about half the people in the room used LinkedIn, a professional networking Web site.

Even if you’ve never been on a social networking site, you understand the concept: It’s a cyberspace handshake. It facilitates connections. It does what Rotary meetings, telephone calls, cocktail parties and e-mail have done for years.

Let’s say Joe wants a job at Hallmark Cards. Joe doesn’t know anybody in the human-resources department or in the target department where he wants to work. But Joe is good friends with Sally, who has a Hallmark Gold Crown store. Sally knows many people in Hallmark’s retail division. One of them, Bill, is the main liaison with Joan in the human-resources department. And Joan knows that Fred is exactly the right person for Joe to meet. Fred, meet Joe. Joe, here’s Fred.

I made up that scenario, but that’s the six-degrees-of-separation concept.

A professional networking site might help make the who-knows-whom connections that have always been an essential ingredient in job hunting, business development and sales prospecting.

(A user also can get a wealth of professional responses quickly when posting a question on the appropriate area of the site.)

A LinkedIn connection may not make sense if you accept an invitation to join one’s professional network if you don’t know the person or don’t have ties to one’s business skills or services.

“It should be a tool to leverage relationships you already have,” Levy emphasized.

A professional networking site can be a good way to put your business profile basically your resume and the services you can offer online, where they can be seen by millions of others.

But, as much as Levy championed the professional development possibilities of Web 2.0, she reminded attendees something that most knew well:

“Time is a scarce resource.” Use networking sites judiciously.

And, most of all, she said, don’t get sucked into making a contest out of how many “connections” you can list. It’s not a matter of quantity; it’s the quality of relationships that count.

Diane Stafford is the workplace and careers columnist at The Kansas City Star. Her blog, workspacekc.typepad.com, can be reached at stafford@kcstar.com.

Keeping Older Workers on the Job

Companies that fear a shortage of qualified workers are trying to entice older workers to stay on the job longer. The Los Angeles-based defense and technology corporation Northrop Grumman is exploring innovative ways to keep baby boomers at their desks and get them to teach younger workers their vital skills. I recently spoke with Ian Ziskin, chief human resources and administrative officer for Northrop Grumman, about how he balances new hires with older worker retention. Excerpts:

How much of your workforce is planning to retire in the next decade? If you look at the demographics of the workforce for Northrop Grumman, which are pretty consistent with the demographics of the aerospace and defense industry in general, we have about 122,000 employees, approximately 50 percent of whom are going to be able to retire over the next five to 10 years.

Why do you want older workers to continue to work longer? This company is moving into a mode where we want to encourage more people to stay if it fits with their life plan. We’re in a situation where it’s beneficial for employees who wish to stay longer, and it’s beneficial to the company to make them want to stay, assuming they have the right skills. The number of people qualified to fill engineering and technical positions that require a good, strong background in engineering and mathematics is a shrinking population of people that many companies are competing for.

Are you having difficulty finding enough qualified workers to replace the employees who are retiring? We hire quite a few new people each year. We’ve had a lot of success hiring really good people, but it’s always a challenge. The number of people who are coming out of school with the required math and science skills that we need in order to do the kind of work we do is shrinking. One of the challenges that Northrop Grumman and the aerospace and defense industry have is we generally require security clearance, which by definition means that they have to be U.S. citizens.

It is better for the company to retain older workers or hire younger and cheaper people? Like any company, you always have to have the appropriate balance with those who are coming in brand new. The people who are at the later part of their career certainly have the more in-depth technology knowledge that we need to serve customers. We’re going to continue to hire new people into the company. We tend to hire somewhere between 14,000 and 15,000 new people every year, and that’s going to continue.

Are there any programs in place to facilitate the transfer of knowledge between older and younger workers? There’s an opportunity to retain some of those workers longer who might have an interest in doing so and transfer knowledge to others behind them. We’ve asked those near retirement to help coach and mentor others who are coming behind them. Those programswhile effective where they exist, there aren’t enough of them. Our plans over the next few years are to expand them.

What incentives to keep older workers are you likely to implement? What I think you will see going forward is making sure that the work assignment that we’re asking our more senior people to take on continues to be very challenging and also asking them to take on more mentoring and coaching knowledge transfer roles, which, in some cases, they can do directly in the jobs that they are in. There will be more flexible work practices with regard to scheduling. People might work from home occasionally, work a part-time schedule, or work a schedule that is a little bit more concise as they ease their way into retirement.

What types of retirement questions do employees most often ask HR about? First and foremost, the question they ask is, “Can I really afford to retire?” which is not a question that we [can] answer. What we do is provide them with the information they need about their anticipated pensions and payments and other information related to the retirement process or direct to them to a financial adviser to help them decide when they might be comfortable retiring. The other types of questions they come to us with have a lot more to do with the process of deciding what they are going to do with their time when they do retire, which is one of the things that leads me to believe we could put their talents and skills to good use.

What advice do you have for a baby boomer who wants to work longer? Make your aspirations to stay known if you are interested in continuing to work. Help companies like Northrop Grumman and others understand what is important to you in terms of challenging work and more flexible workplace preferences that would make you want to continue to work.

Does your boss make the most exasperating requests? Or perhaps demands for things on the spot? Maybe even reschedules meetings around her manicure appointment during office hours? Does she come into the office every morning sporting a look that makes you wonder if she realizes she’s not waltzing down the red carpet at an LA premiere? Welcome to the world of the diva boss.

In ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, Anne Hathaway’s got a boss straight out of Hades but being the movie world, it’s all right for her. At least those to-die-for clothes are guaranteed to ease the pain away. However, for those of us in the real world, reality is sadly the opposite. Not only do you have to suffer your boss, but you also have to do it in mass produced high street fashion outfits.

Interviews with a few ladies turned up the following common absurdities diva bosses have been known to come up with:-

Scenario 1

She’s afraid of flying but she has to do it anyway, so she asks you to call the travel agency and find out exactly what make the airplane is, when it was commissioned, when it was last serviced and then she wants you to go online and find out if airplanes of that model are generally safe. “I wanted to staple the plane ticket to her head,” said Karen, an Executive Assistant. “Of course there was no way I could get that information and the agency more or less hung up on me around the time I started to ask about the last time the plane was serviced. The most annoying thing about it is she canceled the flight eventually.”

Scenario 2

She asks you to make her a cup of coffee, which is not part of your job description by the way. In the interest of future raises and promotions, you acquiesce. When the tea is ready, she informs you it’s the wrong temperature. “Tea is hot or cold as far as I’m concerned and someone saying tea is not the right temperature as if she expects you to stick a thermometer in it to get it just the way she wants is beyond the call of duty,” Sara, a Brand Assistant, had to say about her own boss.

Scenario 3

She schedules an impromptu meeting out of the blue without checking if your timetable is free. That’s not as bad as expecting you to be prepared for the meeting she never told you about until half an hour before when she knows quite well it will take you hours to get ready for the meeting. “She seems not to have much to do so she goes around scheduling meetings unexpectedly like a teacher giving an impromptu test just to make the students miserable.” This is the situation Betty has with her boss a lot of the time and is seriously considering quitting.

Scenario 4

She walks into the office and suddenly decides the sitting arrangements are no longer interesting and insists on rearranging the office, not tomorrow, the day after or in a week but right at that moment. Everyone has to put their work on hold and comply with her demand. “It was like Julius Caesar had walked into the arena and made a decree. We all literally had to stop what we were doing and move the entire office around. Doesn’t this woman have something urgent to do was the thought on everyone’s minds,” stated Carol, a Sales Executive.

Scenario 5

She goes off for a salon appointment during working hours and returns about a nanosecond before closing time and insists on getting a report she never told you she wanted. You have to stay behind to get it ready then she tells you an hour later you can give it to her the next morning after all. However, you’ve missed your ride home by then. “The first time she did it, I empathised. She’s repeated it twice since and both times I’ve wanted to stick her head in the microwave,” said Miriam, a Secretary.

Any of these scenarios sound familiar? Chances are you’ve encountered the diva boss at one time or the other in your career. And there’s a possibility you may still come across her before your career is over but never fear. If you keep the following pointers in mind while dealing with the diva boss, you might just come out on top and not have to quit your job after all.

1.Smile. A lot. Especially when she’s really working on that last nerve. It takes the stress off you and helps you picture things in a lighter perspective.

2. Keep in mind your boss is not going to change. You have to adapt yourself to the situation but in a way that doesn’t undermine you as a person.

3. Adopt a non-adversarial diplomatic approach to dealing with her. Think up creative ways to handle her demands in a calm and controlled manner.

4. Manage any negative emotions you might have towards your boss so you don’t end up counterattacking.

5. Your boss is your boss. Period. She signs your paycheques at the end of the month. If you keep this at the forefront of your mind it should go a long way in helping you deal with the diva attitude.

6. Gossip about her but with a neutral person outside the office who can help you examine the situation in a fair manner.

(c) Anna Fani 2007

Anna Fani is a Freelance & Creative Writer. She has been writing professionally for several years on a variety of subjects related to being single, dating and relationships, career and human interest. She also writes a substantial amount of fiction. Currently she is working on a fiction project based on actual events and is also compiling a blog inspired by the diary of a girl named Nimi Caxton (pseudonym). She is a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild and The Association of Freelance Writers.

Take control of your online image

The rise of online networking sites has made it easier to connect with colleagues and learn about job openings. It’s also part of a much larger trend in which more information about you may be available to anyone who’s interested including hiring managers, who often perform Internet searches on job candidates.

If you want to advance in your career, you need to make sure that both your online networking efforts and your overall Web presence are working for not against you. A good way to do so is by treating all of your online activity as part of a public relations campaign that presents a professional image for potential employers and colleagues alike. Use networking sites with care.

Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn make it easy to expand your web of business contacts, an essential element of any successful IT career. Valuable professional connections can also come from more socially oriented sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Google’s Orkut.

Keep these three points in mind when networking online:

* Craft your profile carefully. Pay just as much attention to the content of your profile as you would to the information in your resume. Make sure it clearly highlights your professional skills. Double-check for typos and grammatical errors.
* Strive for quality, not quantity. While it may be tempting to amass as many contacts as you can, it’s important to be selective about the company you keep. Guilt by association can become a factor if you’re linked with people who have poor professional reputations. If you make your contact list public, potential employers may reach out to the people on it for referrals.
* Ask for recommendations. Most professional networks provide space for others to comment on your work or recommend you to others. Don’t be shy about asking trusted colleagues to post on your profile. These testimonials can quickly give hiring managers positive input about your work ethic and experience.

And remember, online networks aren’t just job search tools; they can also help you stay up to date on industry trends and find mentors who can offer valuable career advice. Also, they can alert you to upcoming events and educational opportunities. Learn what the Web says about you.

Your ongoing “PR campaign” should also address your overall Web presence. Blogs, personal Web sites, legal documents, message board posts and newsgroup comments all may contain information that hiring managers can see.

Start by performing an Internet search for your name. (If you have a common name, add your city, profession, past employers or alma mater as search terms.) Use multiple search engines, and be sure to check alumni sites, Web sites of organizations you belong to, and blogs or personal pages of your friends, family members and co-workers.

You might be surprised by what you find an offensive comment, a negative blog post about a previous employer, or even unflattering pictures taken at a party. If you find such material, contact the Web site’s owner or webmaster and ask to have the content removed. If your request isn’t met, consider enlisting the services of a company such as ReputationDefender.

If you find that you can’t have the negative content removed, make sure you’re prepared to address the matter if an interviewer brings it up. In most cases, employers will understand as long as you’re honest about the material in question. Put your online image to work.

The best way to limit the effect of any negative material about you is to make sure it’s counterbalanced by a substantial amount of positive, professional information. Consider launching a polished Web site or blog related to your career. Feature your accomplishments, skills and certifications, and link to any professional associations you belong to. Include your site’s URL in your job-application materials.

Sharing your insights in technology forums or industry message boards is another way to establish a stronger online presence. Posting well-informed comments or authoring articles in your area of expertise can also reinforce your professional reputation.

If you maintain a personal Web site or blog that has little positive relation to your work, it should be clearly separated from material about your professional life. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see. On social networking sites, consider setting your profile to “private” and blocking others from posting comments to your profile.

Controlling your online image doesn’t mean blotting out any evidence of individuality or creativity. Employers know that you have a life outside of work and that a lot of online information should be taken with a grain of salt. But as more and more companies turn to the Web to learn about their potential hires, it makes sense to control what information they may find.

Katherine Spencer Lee is executive director of Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. Robert Half Technology has more than 100 locations worldwide and offers online job search services at www.rht.com.

Enhancing your career potential in the Web 2.0 world

Is your resume new media ready? Do you know what makes a curriculum vitae (CV) tick in the social media space? Are you sending the right messages for recruiters trawling the web? Is your career Web 2.0 proof?.

RECENT SHIFTS in the Web 2.0 world like content co-creation, transparency and individualised information impacts the way job searches and careers are defined. Trends indicate the need to adopt and leverage new media or social media channels for improving accessibility, creating a brand image and enhancing the potential of getting a job. Blogs, podcasting, wikis and social networking are no more mere buzz words but effective tools to get a head start in a complex web world. Jobs opportunities are also varied and exciting as compared to few years ago. Instead of regular 9-6 assignments, you have options of flexible timings, earning revenue from blogging, syndicating content, selling digital photographs, person-to-person outsourcing ventures among others.

For a management student, it opens up numerous opportunities to build awareness, cultivate communities, contribute to relevant discussions and improve chances of a long term career growth.

A recent study by McCann Universal shows that new media platforms are gaining momentum. 57 per cent have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content. Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media. Video clips are the quickest growing among the platforms. In India, new or social media has caught on well and the medium cannot be overlooked anymore. According to a leading Internet consulting research firm, “Google’s (GOOG) Orkut is the most popular social networking site in India, with a 64 per cent market share. Facebook is also winning many Indian fans, especially students. By 2010, the total number of Internet users in India will grow to 100 million, from 42 million now. This will surely enhance virtual hangout plays like the social networking sites.”

The Internet will continue to dominate how recruiters search for potential candidates. A United Kingdom Job Forecast survey found that 60 per cent of recruiters will start or continue to utilise the web as part of their recruitment strategy. A survey by CareerBuilder.com indicates that two-thirds of these employers have rejected candidates on the basis of what they have found. So, it is vital to have a presence online and be aware of the image you are portraying.

As students, there new tools are an asset if leveraged wisely. So the question is: what should be the way forward? Do we start a blog? Can we open pages on social networking sites? Should we create Web 2.0 Curriculum Vitae (CV) ?

Getting started with New Media needs clear thinking and careful action.

To ensure success, you need to begin by introspecting on your career goals, what you want to achieve, your core strengths and attributes, your image among stakeholders and what you stand for. This evaluation helps you define your career new media strategy and outline the success metrics.

Building your career new media strategy

In today’s world, the ubiquitous CV is not necessary anymore! Rather, it needs to blend elements from new media to enable better search results and for impressing recruiters. A simple online link on Google pages works well. Your CV can extend itself as a blog, but again think before you use this medium. Blogs require brevity, relevance and regular updating do you have the time to spare and do you have an audience in mind? YouTube video CVs are another good idea if you are sure of how to present yourself on camera and carry a crisp message on your offerings. Increase your web presence and tagging to keywords, which relate closely to your image and expected job preference. Remember, a Web 2.0 CV is a value-add to your existing profile and not a replacement.

While social networking choose your sites carefully. Having a page on Orkut provides a different picture than being viewed on say Linkedin, a business networking forum. Similarly, Xing has a unique audience profile as compared to Facebook.

On the web, collaboration is a sure way to improve your chances of better opportunities. Be useful and relevant to others; maintain decorum while communicating online, help others get successful and it adds up in the long run. Sites like Linkedin have options to ask and respond to questions, an excellent opportunity to showcase your knowledge and potential.

Be credible online. Do not post information which is ambiguous or not verified. Know yourself and be yourself.

Test your strategy with your peers and stakeholders before you go public. Get feedback on how it matches with your objectives.

Finally, market your profile through social networking sites which align to your image, alumni networks and collaboration tools among others. Do not miss an opportunity to talk about it offline either!

Remember, it takes time to shape a new media strategy; be willing to experiment and be patient.