Its JobMobs 7th Birthday!

It's JobMob's 7th Birthday! 78 7 years and counting from the official press release back on March 21st, 2007. It's been a strange year. A few people have even asked whether I've lost interest in blogging, or they've just come out and said that I seem to be putting in less effort than usual. The latter is actually true. I did put in less effort this past year than usual. And you can tell:eval JobMob readership continues to grow, albeit more slowly than in recent times, while traffic has dropped significantly both from search engines and social media. People are still sharing JobMob articles at a high rate but we're all suffering more than ever from info-overwhelm, leading fewer people to click through and visit even if they do go on to reshare the link that was first shared with them. But this isn't because I've lost interest, mind you, not even close. Rather, it was because I've been focused on creating an Internet startup company. (Surprised? Tell me in the comments) You'll hear more about that soon enough, but in the meantime, change is coming and you can expect me to remove all doubts anyone's having about my ongoing commitment to you and JobMob.eval Next year, I'm going to look back on the best year yet and hopefully you will too. Count on it. And it's already begun… News JobMob is now secure Have you noticed that all JobMob urls are now https? Are you seeing the lock icon in your browser's address bar? As seen in our credits, JobMob now has a top-notch A+ security rating and is guaranteed by Comodo: (What does this mean? Why secure a blog? There are a few reasons. If you're curious, ask me in the comments. I might even blog about the whole process as a rare off-topic article just like when I talked about how I registered JobMob as a US trademark) One small downside to this upgrade is that Facebook no longer counts the more than 2700 people who already Liked JobMob over the past few years, with that number now reduced to single digits. So Like JobMob again here above, if you please. JobMob is now faster than ever As part of the project to secure JobMob, the site has now been optimized for extreme performance in over a dozen different ways with dramatic results. Pages are loading more than twice as fast as previously, especially if you're using a recent browser. Highlights from the past year The 7th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest This was the biggest edition of the contest yet with over $10,000 in prizes. Unfortunately, for the first time in 3 years, the massive prize chest wasn't enough to fill all 25 guest slots but that just means there will be changes for the better when the 8th edition rolls around this summer, only a few months from now. The JobMob Census We held the the first-ever JobMob Census and well over 100 people responded, giving me terrific feedback and insights about who you are and e.g. which job search obstacles I can help you with in the short-term and long-term moving forward. There were some refreshing surprises too. JobMob Consults Although I'd been meaning to do a census for some time, I was really inspired while doing a round of free JobMob job search consults, something I announced in last year's birthday post. Over Skype, I consulted almost 20 job seekers from Israel, America, England, Slovakia and China, many of whom were so delighted with the results that they left recommendations on my LinkedIn profile. JobMob hacked by #Anonymous? Did you hear that JobMob was supposed to be attacked by global terrorist hackers who were targeting Israeli sites? This wasn't one of the main reasons that I decided to secure the site, but the new protection will certainly help if this might ever happen again. Thank you for the past year You guys rock. Thank you to all commenters Kevin meed, Nigel, aj, Vicky, Career Sherpa, Ilan Katz, Steve Mann, Lasse Stolz, Daniel, Israel, Jason Alba, Marcus, Bob Marino, Todd Porter, Sarah Nelson, Jeff Williams, Avigail Frij, Yonatan Silver, Sujatha Rao, S. Weitzman, Tova Rubenstein, josh, Jasan, Francine, Dorlee, Ján Sáreník, Shalom Bresticker, Peter Martin, Shay Hampton-Gregory, Stephen Smith, Valeria, Juliana, hitender singh, Steven Duncan, Natasha, Josh, hayim abramson, Margie Cohen-Jackel, Marina Shemesh, Alina, Bless Vaidian, Ofra, Dan Epstein, Tamar, Yosi, dunya, Sandra, Debra Franke, Renee Lee Rosenberg, Jim Niemela, Stephan, Donna Sweidan, Stephan Wiedner, Trudy Van Buskirk, Maria Elena Duron, naeem, Jason, Nir, Zev, Aaron, kidane, Yehoshua Paul, Ted Coombs, Kate Baggott, billy cripe, Paul Pleus, Marna Becker, Theresa Avila, Gideon Vos, Richard Howell, Tim Marker, Mark, Ezra, Joseph Lijo, Reese Jones, Vicki, Anthony kwaku oduro, Amie Paxton, alt0182, Sabri Jemili, Ronnie Ann, Tal Aronstam, Karen Jeavons, Moshe E gel-Tal, Elizabeth A. Bert, Gideon, Chuck Klein, Jon Maril, Noele, Andy Waggoner and Jacco Valkenburg. Thank you to all sponsors MyBlogGuest.com, WebHostingBuzz, JibberJobber, MaxCDN, Dan Schawbel, Wallaroo Media, Grammarly, Kiesha Easley and WeBlogBetter.com, DesignCrowd, Captain Up, H.T. PROF Executive Search, Alexandra Levit, Christine Harvey and Joshua Waldman. Thank you to all guest authors Graeme Gilovitz, Reese Jones, Maria Elena Duron, Ibro Palic, Michel Neray, Donna Sweidan, Todd Porter, Stephan Wiedner, Soma Ghosh, Ofra Kleinberger Riedrich, Mark Anthony Dyson, Bless Vaidian, Alina Jingan, Rebecca Rachmany, The Recruiting Animal, Aadi Reddy, Margie Cohen-Jackel, Kate Baggott, Joey Trebif, Lavie Margolin and Thomas Taylor. A round of applause also goes to: YOU! And everyone who reads and : subscribe here Facebook: via the JobMob Facebook page Twitter: follow @jacobshare Pinterest: JobMob Articles pinboard Stay in touch where it's easiest for you.

Market Movements and Holiday Budgeting Blues

Market Movements and Holiday Budgeting Blues For most career-driven women and working mums, an occasional getaway or family holiday can be just the recipe to get you through the long working week, but recently for Brits, it seems the market is set on making that twice as hard. For anyone who works in the trading industry or happens to dabble in a bit of spread betting on the side, you will probably be far too aware of what has been going on between the Dollar/Euro and the Pound recently. In the last three weeks alone, the Dollar and Euro have both gained 3.5c to every pound, meaning that for every hundred Dollars or Euros you spent abroad, you would be spending an additional £3.50 more than you anticipated. While this may not sound much in principal, shopping trips to New York or family trips to Disney Land Paris can now end up costing hundreds of pounds more, once food and admissions are tagged on. So just how does one end up beating the market fluctuations and still get to afford the holidays that they wanted this year? Well there is the obvious answer of making money on the markets by joining a company like City Index where you can play the markets and make up your shortfall, but this isn’t such an easy feat. Alternatively, if you don’t fancy yourself as a semi-professional trader, you can try a couple of other simple methods to keep your costs down, without sacrificing your dream holiday. 1)           Before you book anything, take a glance at cash back sites like Quidco or Top Cashback to where you can earn money back on your purchases. While this may not seem like a huge difference, you can get up to 10% on hotel costs which can easily make up the currency shortfall for your trip. 2)           If you haven’t booked your holiday then an all-inclusive may be a good opportunity to ensure you aren’t affected by any further GBP issues. With the cost of your food and stay pre-assigned, you can better budget for your entire trip rather than getting a nasty shock when you are out there. 3)           If you have no option but to exchange your money, make sure you look at the rate you are getting from your bank card or travel exchange. While many have favoured local cash withdrawals under the promise of no extra charges, the exchange rate offered by your bank may be far from fair and exchanging currency before you go may also help save you pounds. Whatever you choose to do and how ever you try to make up the potential shortfalls, remember to compare as much as you can as every little bit can add up to a big saving in the end.

Your Attitude Career Maker or Career Breaker - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Your Attitude Career Maker or Career Breaker - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career YOU and the impressions you make on others are  the essence of your personal brand. Do you tend to smile or frown? Slump or stand confidently? Speak positively or negatively? Listen attentively or appear distracted?  Do you have control over the impressions you make, or are you unaware of them? I have carefully observed hundreds of job seekers over the past 11+ years at Executive Impact  and  most appeared to be  unaware of how their attitude was affecting their personal brand. Those with great attitudes were instantly attractive, some even charismatic. Those with the worst attitudes appeared to be the most out of touch, kidding themselves but not their audiences. A recent client with a great attitude landed a $170K job in 10 weeks, while another  with a substandard  attitude took 12 months to land a $40K job. Perhaps you’ve earned an MBA or completed other notable education. Hopefully, your resume is loaded with killer experience and notable accomplishments that get reader attention. And, if you’ve done your homework, you have created an attractive LinkedIn profile that includes several glowing recommendations. All of these things can provide you a strong personal brand  â€œon paper”. After reviewing your written information, however, all  potential employers will want to know one thing: Are you as good in person as you appear on paper? No one gets hired without a job interview and your attitude can have a HUGE affect on how you are perceived in person. Most interviewers form a first impression within two minutes some  within five seconds! That’s why the first chapter in my career book, Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!), is devoted to this important topic. Here is an excerpt: Remember the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Like it or not, your attitude will be evaluated, consciously or unconsciously, by most people you encounter. When you walk into your boss’ office, a meeting with peers, a restaurant for lunch, a networking meeting, or a job interview, your attitude must be top notch. Otherwise, it may require a thousand words to correct a negative first impression. One simple way for you to evaluate your attitude is to choose a random point in your day to start monitoring your internal thoughts and external communications. Do this for 20 minutes or so, rating each of your internal thoughts and outward comments as positive or negative. Dont cheat and claim many  of them are neutral. Most  are either postive or negative. Get  real. Were they predominantly positive or negative? Unless you are Mother Teresa’s sibling, your attitude is likely to need work and I  assure you that diligent effort can pay  big dividends. Here are some suggestions: 1. With your physician’s knowledge and pre-approval, begin or re-start a consistent exercise program that is appropriate for your current health condition and abilities. Get your endorphins flowing! Exercise naturally increases your positive brain chemistry. 2. Start noticing what you choose to consume with your ears and your eyes. Eliminate all negative television programs, newspaper articles, and radio programs. Substitute positive movies, books, audio books and music CD’s. 3. Start noticing what your friends, family members and co-workers are saying. Are they positive, constructive, etc? If so, hang with them. If not, make a concerted effort to reduce the time you spend with negative people. Like it or not, many of your adult life circumstances are the direct result of your attitude and corresponding actions. A more constructive attitude will form the foundation upon which you build the fulfilling career and life you desire. It is my hope that this information will motivate you to honestly examine your attitude and conscientiously improve it, thus propelling yourself to the successes you desire. Be well. Author: Richard Kirby  is an executive career consultant, speaker on career strategies, and author of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!). Richard Kirby’s earlier experience includes managing engineering, human resources, marketing and sales teams for employers that ranged from a Fortune 100 to a VC-funded entrepreneurial startup. For the past 11 years at Executive Impact, Richard has helped hundreds of executives and professionals successfully navigate today’s transformed 21st century job market and achieve better employment for themselves. Richard’s expertise includes career assessments and goal setting, personal marketing/branding, resume enhancement, strategic networking and job interviewing, and “contrarian” job search methodologies. He is a Board Certified Coach (in career coaching) and a Certified Management Consultant (recognized by the ISO).

The Branding Galaxy Product, Corporate, eBrand, Professional, Personal, Social, and Employment - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Branding Galaxy Product, Corporate, eBrand, Professional, Personal, Social, and Employment - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership: name, term, design, symbol (Wikipedia). Branding is the art of developing brands, which sounds simple, but if you have noticed, its evolved quite a bit this century. No longer are we just concerned about product brands, which are items we purchase either for need or luxury. Corporate brands are the embodiment of those product brands, so we tend to care about the total perceived value and reputation of them as well. Oh wait, then you have personal branding (of course), which forces us to consider each individual person who represents a company. In December of 2007, 20% of the entire world had an internet connection. That is over 1.3 billion users, which is simply incredible, especially because the growth was over 250%. As advertising dollars and attention is drawn to the internet, our personal brands are now digitize and in online form, which we consider an eBrand. An eBrand, as discussed a few posts ago,represents the face you want to show to the world online, whether it is a blog, traditional website, existence on a social network or all three. In order for organizations to recruit online in this new web 2.0 world, they have to switch gears and provide their own eBrand in the form of an employment brand. Employment branding is complicated for companies, especially Fortune 500 companies who are used to traditional methods, such as offering jobs through portals. This type of branding is about providing an online experience for potential candidates, employees and everyone else. It is used to attract talent, retain it and shine the entire organization in good light. Smart companies are successful in this area by providing a unique experience, consisting of videos that showcase what its like to work there, a Facebook network and group, a Ning network, a blog written by an HR executive or team and others. I would like to introduce everyone to what I call social branding. A social brand (social branding) is one that thrives and connects through social media and networks. It may be a quick instance, such as a Tweet on Twitter, a blog post, or even writing on someones wall in Facebook. Social branding is how you are judge as you hold conversations using social media platforms. It starts with your avatar (which should be a picture of you), and then the messages you type and your about page, along with your color scheme and overall design. Personal branding takes into account professional branding. Professional branding is how you display yourself in a work setting. We all act somewhat differently when we are at work because there is a corporate culture and you know what you can and cannot get away with based on a few days at work. Startups and marketing/PR firms typically allow you to wear jeans and a dress shirt and if you are an engineer like my roommate, you can even wear a t-shirt to work. If you work for a Fortune 500 company and are customer-facing, then its required that you wear a suit and tie. Lastly, and yes Ive posted about this before, there is human branding. Human branding isnt related to personal branding, but I mention it so people dont get confused. Human branding is when you burn a symbol on your skin as a way of showing loyalty (some fraternities) or love for a particular group (band) or symbol (skull). People who comment should be rewarded Brandon Wright Steve Roesler Anita Bruzzese Daniel Honigman Lindsey Pollak David Sandusky Nathan Snell Maria Elena Duron Insert your name here

7 Tips to Build Your Executive Job Search Target Companies List - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

7 Tips to Build Your Executive Job Search Target Companies List

More on Being a Good Listener

More on Being a Good Listener The other day, a friend called to ask me for my advice. As I was gleefully providing my input, I was then provided with excuses and reasons why my advice wouldnt work. OK, I know I am not always righthowever, I was being asked for my advice, right? When we ask questions, which is what we all need to be doing to better understand what we dont know, then being a good listener requires that we take in the information.If we need to gain clarification, we need to ask more questions.I dont believe we should side track the conversation by getting into the reasons why the advice isnt good. It might be enough for you to know that the person you have asked for advice from provided you with info you already knew or have already tried. Fine. Move on to someone else. We all want to be heard, not criticized. I have a mentor who is wonderful at listening. She asks great questions and never makes me feel stupid. If she doesnt agree with something Ive said, she asks another question to dig deeper into the stupid thing Ive just said. For example: Hannahs stupid statement: All job seekers are lazy Brilliant mentor: What do you mean by lazy, Hannah?Someoneelse:No, they arent lazy, they just dont know what else to do Hannahs answer: Well, they just dont do what they need to do Brilliant mentor: So why do you think they dont do what they need to do? Hannah feeling stupid: Because they dont know what they dont know, but I guess that doesnt make them lazy, but perhaps uninformed (AHA moment for me, right?) I am not suggesting that we dont debate or discuss opinions or views, that is very important, but perhaps not appropriate to the conversation in which we are requesting advice.

Secrets of Writing a Good Resume - Use My Secret to Write Your Best Resume Today

Secrets of Writing a Good Resume - Use My Secret to Write Your Best Resume TodayDo you know what the secrets of good resume writing are? Well, you should because if you don't, they are the things that will determine whether or not you get hired. These tips are easy to find online and some are even printed and distributed for free in high schools and colleges. However, many people do not follow these ideas because they believe that you can actually create your own resume as you wish.However, these tips are the ones that need to be sought advice from a college or high school student who has a written resume in hand so that you can learn how to create a good one yourself. All you have to do is to consult the guide and pick up tips that you need.The first thing that you should remember is that you should look at the skills that you have and see if they would match those of the job that you wish to do. You should put in consideration the kind of work that you are going to do and the kind of employer you are going to hire. For example, if you are going to write a resume for a job in the computer, try to get an entry level position first. Do not waste your time on the best positions, if you are not that good. It may be tough to get these jobs but it will be worth the effort.The second secret to a good resume is to show your abilities and skills with a skill as well. So, do not just list your achievements and qualifications. If you have a good skill, write about it.Be creative when you are composing your resume. If you are a doctor, then let it be known that you are a doctor. Make sure that you include your education details and any certifications that you may have obtained.Employers know about your needs and they will give preference to those that have a resume that is appealing and informative. The first impression that you make to them will be what they base their decision on. That is why it is important to ensure that your resume is eye-catching and you capture the ir attention.In the Obama's America, everyone is trying to be more knowledgeable and more proficient. This is why they go through several resumes to find the best one. Therefore, make sure that your resume contains your major skills and accomplishments and try to use the power of keywords to your advantage.For example, if you are a writer, make sure that you use the words 'writer 'bookworm 'serial entrepreneur' and put a link to your website. Writing these kinds of words will make your resume look impressive. Always remember that an effective resume is one that is created by using specific facts and knowledge, and we are all capable of doing this. What is more, we all have the ability to learn from other people's mistakes.