With a well-written resume, stunning VisualCV, and the networking and sharing capabilities of VisualCV.com, you have in one easy-to-use tool just what you need to rev up a job search, manage your contacts, stay in touch with people of influence, and guide your career where you want it to go... not where the latest layoff, downsizing, or boom-and-bust cycle takes you.
This Section discusses smart strategies for managing your career. I encourage you to think beyond landing your next position (as important as that is) and adopt the practices that will keep you on the radar screen for ongoing opportunities—not just jobs, but possibly speaking gigs, consulting assignments, special projects, board positions, publishing opportunities, media inquiries, and maybe even the opportunity to get in the ground floor of the next breakthrough technology!
It's impossible to predict when or how opportunities will come your way, but one thing I can guarantee: If people don't know about you or remember you, they won't pass along to you their hot tips or bright ideas.
Thus, to be "top of mind" with your target audiences, you must be visible—they need to see you or hear from you from time to time. And you must exude an authentic, credible personal brand that distinguishes you from others and attracts the right kinds of opportunities.
The secret to effective lifelong career management is to structure and follow a process of regularly communicating with people of influence, sharing information about yourself in an appropriate way, and consistently expressing what it is that makes you different and special.
Fortunately, VisualCV.com is here! It's designed to give you the ultimate control over your messages and methods of communication while making it easy for you to stay in touch with people who can help you throughout your career (and, of course, whom you can help as well). Whether you're in a job search or simply want to build and maintain professional relationships, VisualCV.com provides the technology and the tools.
The strategies that are presented on the following pages are as ancient as the first human-to-human communication and as new as today's Web technologies. What the Web does is make it easier to stay in touch; make it possible to connect with more people (and the right people) around the globe; and speed up the connections and the interactions. What it doesn't do is replace people with technology. In fact, VisualCV.com was born from the frustration that both job seekers and recruiters experience in the typical resume "blasting" and mass-job-posting scenario.
As you begin to learn, use, and benefit from VisualCV.com, this Section of the Insider's Guide can help by providing a big-picture approach and a few specific recommendations. However, VisualCV.com will evolve over time, and the best place to learn about what's new and how it works is to log into the site, explore what's new, and access the online help feature for detailed information and support.
Grasp the following four strategies and you'll be a master at both the online and offline communications that will benefit you the most—both immediately and in the long term, as you steer through the intricate waters of career management.
A powerful professional network is the key to career opportunities and advancement—in every field, at every level. Your network is your source for inside information and influential referrals. Your network extends your visibility to additional contacts. Your network thinks of you when relevant opportunities arise. Building and maintaining your network will deliver exceptional ROI throughout your career.
To cultivate your network, you might combine periodic mass communications to everyone on your contacts list with more frequent individual messages. You can come up with countless valid reasons for connecting with people. Here are just a few ideas:
Because real networking involves a personal connection, be wary about sending too many "mass" emails. Instead, use VisualCV.com to manage your groups and track your communications, but invest the time and effort in personal rather than group messages most of the time.
Maybe you have 17,000 MySpace "friends" or 1,700 LinkedIn connections. There's a big difference between people who know you and those who exist in an electronic network. Of course, you want to grow your circle of connections. But rather than simply notching another contact on your network belt, seek to add people with whom you can make a real connection. These might be people you've already met (in person, by phone, or via email) or people you'd like to get to know, including any or all of the following:
The best way to add individuals to your network is one by one. If it's someone you've met, reach out by phone or email to make a personal connection. Then, with permission, you can gather their contact details to add to your database.
If it's someone you don't know, use your existing network—ask who knows the individual you're trying to connect with, and ask for a referral. The "Six Degrees of Separation" law has been proven over and over. (In fact, some evidence suggests that most people are just three contacts away from anyone in the world!) In all likelihood, you'll be referred to someone who knows someone who knows your target, and voila! With the right introduction and the right approach, you've just added an influential person to your circle of friends.
With VisualCV.com, you can add people to your network, group them according to affinities, and keep track of your communiqués. When you're trying to establish a new connection with someone, it's easy to quickly scan your existing contacts to see who might be able to offer a lead.
What's the purpose of all this networking? Remember what I said earlier about give-and-take. By establishing an ongoing relationship, staying in regular contact, and sharing more than asking, your network is primed to help you when you do have a need or a request.
Still, every one of your communications with your network should be done with a purpose: to express your brand, strengthen your visibility, establish yourself as a trusted resource, and position yourself as a consummate professional.
People in your VisualCV.com network are happy to hear from you! With VisualCV.com, you establish a circle of trusted contacts. Your contacts expect to hear from you and want to stay abreast with what's going on in your career and your life. Your "marketing" communications should be designed to maintain that warm relationship.
There are countless advantages to staying "on message" and on target with your circle of contacts. While you certainly don't want to be rigid or calculating in your interactions, always be aware of the power of the network. The right approach and message will work miracles! An inappropriate, off-target, or out-of-the-blue message will leave your contacts scratching their heads and wondering what's up with you.
For example, think how you'd feel if a professional contact—someone you respect for her knowledge in your field—starts sending you political rants regarding her support for candidates and causes that don't match your views. All of a sudden you're thinking about this person not as "highly respected professional" but as "political nut." Even though politics have nothing to do with her professional life, her messages can't help but color your view of her.
So be judicious about what you share and with whom you share it. It's perfectly all right to let your personality come through! But strive to keep some separation between your personal and professional lives, and remember that it's hard to shake a negative impression or off-kilter experience.
In addition to steering clear of sensitive topics such as politics and religion, use common sense and good judgment:
One of the nicest and easiest ways to touch base with people is to let them know you've updated your VisualCV. With a quick message that links them to your unique URL, your contacts will be quickly in touch with latest, greatest, most impressive feats of your career. They'll see, all over again, who you are and what you're all about.
Remember, you can create multiple versions of your resume for different audiences. Yet all of the portfolio pieces—the video, audio, charts, graphs, documents, and so forth that enhance your VisualCV—remain located in one central spot. Create it, upload it, and it's instantly available to insert into one or all of your VisualCV versions.
When you're actively looking for a job, you'll want to step up your networking and other efforts. Now it's not enough just to keep in touch; now you need your network to come through for you.
VisualCV.com lets you manage and maintain relationships with people of influence—recruiters, hiring managers at your target companies, and other business and professional contacts. If recruiters and HR people have said they're interested in you, by all means send them regular updates to keep your name fresh in their minds. You're in a much better position than typical job seekers who have to build these connections from scratch!
In addition to the recruiters and potential employers in your contact network, you'll want to get your other friends and colleagues thinking about you and helping you identify opportunities. The following strategies will help you get the most from these interactions.
The real benefits of VisualCV.com come before and after you're looking for a job. In fact, used properly, VisualCV.com can help ensure that you never actually have to look for a job! Instead, opportunities come to you. You remain visible to people who are touch points for many different parts of the business world, and their knowledge and connections become your knowledge and connections through the power of networking and referrals.
So, stay tuned and stay connected as VisualCV.com takes off. You'll gain advantages today and find even more benefits tomorrow and into the future.