Archive for February, 2010

One of my personal goals in networking is to strive to be visible and valuable to the people in my professional life. I don’t want to be one of those people who call you only when I need you; or the kind of person who disappears for long periods of time.

I also don’t want to fall victim to the scary business statistic that I recently heard about:  With every month that you are not in communication, you lose 10% of your influence. Staying in touch is clearly a business and career priority, in the good times and the lean times.

Here’s how I define visible and valuable in the context of networking and relationship building:

• Visible: be “front of mind” with the people that you care about. Communicate regularly, through both active and passive communication channels. Show up. Show your face. Don’t just communicate by email or texting. Let them see the whole human being that you are.
• Valuable:  be a resource, be helpful, know what they need and care about. Help them solve their problems.  Be collaborative, not competitive. Share your ideas, experiences, thoughts, ideas, content and resources that you have discovered and find worthwhile. Introduce people to other people that potentially can help them.

How often should you stay in touch?

The question of frequency of communication comes up when I speak to groups about professional networking and relationship building. The goal is to stay in touch frequently enough to have influence and visibility, without being overbearing.

Think of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears:

• “This one is too soft” – i.e., you are out of touch, you don’t reach out, you are neglecting your the people in your network. They start wondering if you are alive or if you simply don’t care enough about them to stay in touch;
• “This was is too hard” – i.e, your actions are too pushy, too much, you appear aggressive or worse yet, desperate or needy because you are constantly calling/emailing;
• “This one is just right” – i.e., you use the appropriate amount of follow-up, demonstrating that you care about the relationship, you are organized and professional and that you have self-confidence in who you are.
• Photo credit: Tito Verano, http://www.flickr.com/photos/88251752@N00/4085056238/

Click here to review guidelines for how often you should stay in touch in the people in your professional circles….

While this may seem a bit ambiguous at first, this is a really important question – are you “résumé ready”? Being résumé ready is tantamount to being in a state of disaster preparedness or, to be a bit less dramatic, at least being ready for unexpected events such as a snow storm, power loss or, perish the thought, the loss of employment.

In my experience as a résumé writer, 99% of the clients who reach out to me are in a huge rush to update their résumé due to an unexpected layoff, a sudden dismissal or seeing an ad for their dream job to which they must respond within 24 hours. Wouldn’t it be far easier and more sensible to proactively keep one’s self in a state of readiness for whatever turn life might take by keeping one’s credentials current and available? After all, we take preventive health measures such as annual physicals and yearly dental checkups. We take our vehicles in for routine maintenance.  Why not take the same approach to our careers and valued source of requisite income?

What would my advice be as an experienced recruiter and résumé writer? Update your résumé no less than once a year so that you’ll be “résumé ready” if disaster strikes or, more happily, opportunity knocks.

Download more articles from Bree Gurin. “Resumes and the Job Search: The Truth Revealed”

About the writer: Bree Gurin has been in the staffing industry for more than 28 years and is currently recruiting and placing candidates in the New York City area. She has also successfully been writing concise and informational résumés for candidates all across the country for the past 8 years. Bree can be reached at 860 485-1154,  abgurin@snet.net or by visiting her website, www.gurinonline.com

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christine Harvey is on a mission: Transition into the civilian working world.

I first met Chris Harvey at the 2009 Business Women’s Forum in Hartford, CT. It was hard not to notice her commanding presence and radiant energy. She is what I call a “motivated leader.” We have since networked together quite a bit and I am motivated to help her accomplish her “mission” in whatever way that I can. In my opinion, she is the kind of principled leader that “civilian” businesses need.

Read about about Christine Harvey’s four-point strategy for orchestrating a successful career transition from her military life into the “civilian work world.”