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Breaking News – LinkedIn Announces Universal Resume Apply Button


LinkedIn, the premier social networking site announced it would unveil a universal resume apply button today. This is good news for anyone in a job search. However it increases the demand to stand out and validates the importance of a powerfully written, well-branded LinkedIn profile.

To stand out, your LI profile should:
- immediately engage your reader
- be conversational
- distinguish you from everyone else in your target network
- contain a personal story or testimonial
- be 250 words or less
- promote your unique value proposition – UVP
- be unified with your resume, cover letter, and other career communications
- be written using key words and phrases

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New Solutions for Job Seekers Competing in Today’s “Social Search”

There’s a new breed of Career Coach and Professional Resume Writer helping job seekers navigate the toughest and most confusing job market in decades. For job seekers, the stakes have never been higher, and the job search landscape has never been more volatile as Google, social media, employers, and recruiters drive the switch to “Social Search.” These are 2011′s job search realities:

  • Employers are abandoning costly and ineffective job board giants and databases. Traditional job search is dying. It won’t be revived; nor will job seekers clinging to traditional resumes.
  • Google is career GPS. Google results are replacing the resume as a screening device.
  • Hiring managers are sourcing candidates via cost- and quality-effective “social solutions” including Google, LinkedIn profiles, social media venues, video presentations, and more.
  • Social job search requires more than a resume. Candidates need a multi-channel online presence within a branded, value-infused career communications (CareerComm) network.
  • “Bottom-line-it-for-me!” managers and recruiters increasingly prefer bold, brief, brand- and value-rich career documents—as easily readable on a smart phone as on a computer.

Two nationally recognized authors, coaches, and innovators in branded career management—Deb Dib and Susan Whitcomb—created the G3 Coach Program (offered through theacademies.com) to train career professionals in the new techniques their job seeking clients need for success in an employment market driven by speed and social-media recruiting.

The pioneering Certified G3 Coach program (which stands for Get Clear, Get Found, Get Hired!), equips career coaches, job search strategists, resume writers, and personal branding strategists to help job seekers flourish in today’s Social Search employment market. Anne-Marie Ditta, a resident of  Westchester County, graduated from the inaugural class, becoming one of the first in the world to earn the elite Certified G3 Coach designation.

Dib sums up the need for this training: “Today’s hiring managers are inundated multi-taskers with little time and patience. As a Certified G3 Coach, Ditta has the skills to help job seekers meet today’s employers’ mantra, ‘So what? Make me care! Do it fast!’”

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The Hidden Benefits of a Well Written Resume

Have you ever thought about the benefits of having a well written resume? If you think the only benefit is finding a job, think again.

Back in January, my usually upbeat handyman confided to me that he was in a funk. Business was down and he could barely meet expenses. He decided to seek employment as a Superintendent or Facility Manager. While he enjoyed doing home repairs, he needed the security of a full time job. A change in situation would create a steady income and allow him to serve private customers after business hours. The problem was he lacked the personal awareness to effectively market himself.

After a brief discussion we agreed on a barter arrangement; I would write his resume and cover letter in exchange for his taking care of several projects around my home.

My familiarity with his work helped me to create a resume that would attract the opportunities he was seeking. The profile boasted about his talents, the skills section featured every tool he had operated and the professional skills he offered. I included a logo that depicted a hammer and nail to catch the attention of hiring managers.

The interview process and completed document gave my handyman the language he needed to market himself. What he learned about himself during the interview process of the resume program gave him a better understanding of his value to others and the role his previous experience in played in achieving his goals.

About a week after his resume was completed he called to tell me about all the opportunities that were coming his way. The newly created resume enabled him to clearly speak with friends and members of his congregation about his career goals. To his surprise he found people were more than willing to share contacts and job leads. I listened as he enthusiastically told me he was going to apply for a seasonal maintenance position with the Trump Organization…It has since occurred to me the real benefit of what I do is give people the confidence and hope they need to pursue their goals.

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6 Good Reasons to Update Your Resume

Repeat after me, today is the day that I will update my resume. Today is the day that I will update my resume. Rarely has a person contacted me because they were happily employed and wanted to update their resume as part of their healthy career management program. By keeping your resume current you will:

  1. be ready when an unforeseen opportunity presents itself
  2. be ready to launch your job search if you are suddenly laid off
  3. have a healthy awareness of your unique strengths, skills, and accomplishments
  4. be less stressed should you find yourself in an unexpected job search
  5. be ahead of the competition because you will also be active in your  professional and social network and have a strong online presence.
  6. be in a better position for promotions and salary increases

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6 Word Resume

There’s a new meme going around for a 6 word resume at G.L. Hoffman’s blog. The goal is to come up with a 6 word resume that captures the essence of who you are. This is great exercise for defining your brand.

Hint: What do you stand for? What distinguishes you from everyone else?

  • Here are some famous and not so famous examples:

    • “Women should be obscene and not heard.”
    Groucho Marx

    “They always leave a little taller.”
    The Little Gym

    “80% of success is showing up.”
    Woody Allen

    “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
    Abraham Lincoln

    “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
    Benjamin Franklin

    “Whatever you focus on, will expand.”
    Steadman Grant

    “Dare to Dream – Dare to Do”
    Anonymous

    “Inner Gremlin Tamer, Life Purpose Guru”
    Anne-Marie Ditta

    “Change has come to America.”
    Barack Obama
    Victory speech in US presidential election, home state of Chicago, November 4, 2008.

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