Executives, yes this means you, too. Understanding and communicating your brand will help you in all stages of your job search, as well as in managing your career going forward. Do you have a rock solid brand message that clearly and concisely is achieving the results you desire? If not, it’s no longer a “nice to have, but a must have.” Don’t waste valuable time during the first quarter of the year when some of the best opportunities exist in the job market. 1. What do you have to offer? If you don’t know your strengths, skills and talents, and how to showcase them, how do you expect others to get to know these things about you? Sometimes we are too close to see the whole picture. Career brand strategists can help you extract what you don’t see and know how to leverage and become known for those talents in a compelling way. ... Read more

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled “No More Resumes, Say Some Firms.” While the title is a little exaggerated, I can safely say I’m glad I’m not a resume writer! More about that in a moment. The resume is certainly evolving, but it has been evolving for years. Now though, resumes are going head-to-head with branded visibility via social media … and social media is winning. What does moving beyond the resume and leveraging social media mean for CFOs? I’m glad you asked. It might mean the difference between … ... Read more

I recently came across a video called Sh*t New Yorkers Say. The video is a funny account of what it’s like to live in New York City. It touches on all that is magical and all that is annoying about this city in less than 3 minutes. Its accuracy is uncanny and as a native New Yorker I’ve undoubtedly uttered at least 90% of the same things about this city during my time here. But I think the beauty of the video is that it depicts New York City life in a transparent and authentic way. It’s a city that attracts and repels its inhabitants at the same time. The feeling you get living in New York City is not black or white. It’s gray. And to me, anything that appears only black or white is not authentic. There must be gray in order for it to be real. ... Read more

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If you are a leader in your area of expertise, you probably don’t need a resume to open doors. This might sound a little odd coming from someone who runs the top resume writing firm for leaders in Canada. My business is writing effective resumes for six-figure professionals, so why would I suggest that you might not need a resume to get a good opportunity? Let me explain. If you are an experienced senior-level professional, your resume doesn’t hold the same sort of power that it might have had years ago. In fact, this time around, it might not be the first thing you need to succeed in your job search, but it probably is the final thing you need to close the deal.        

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1. Fear of being your own boss: You have no choice to face this fear, because it is right there already. You are your own boss, whether you like it or not. Due to the trend of shrinking job tenure, everyone needs to think about what their next step is going to be, on a regular and strategic basis. Long gone is the lifetime career working for “the Man”.  People need to consider not just one, but multiple sources of income and manage their career like a business.  As such you need to become your own Chief Marketing officer.       ... Read more

You probably know that I’m an avid reader, which is how I provide such great information to my Facebook business page and Linked In group. If you’re a CFO and you want to consolidate your reading to stay in the know on career-related information … please consider joining one or both of my groups. But, I digress. During my Internet scour, I came across an article on 10 mega business trends to watch for in 2012 and beyond. Now, these are “business” trends but #10 was interesting. And it applies to both your business and your career. ... Read more

Whether you love Tim Tebow or hate him, it’s highly unlikely that you haven’t heard his name. You have to admit he … – is very differentiated from his colleagues, – more visible than almost all of his counterparts despite his rookie status, and – stands clearly and firmly for his beliefs. In short, Tebow is a branding sensation. Let’s take a deeper look at a couple of reasons why.   ... Read more

As a professional resume writer I often have a client start his or her replies to my questions with “we.” When I ask “who is we?” the client more often than not says “well that was me.” Being humble is a lovely trait, but being humble doesn’t necessarily land the job offer. A certain amount of self-promotion is expected! For those who are on the gentler side of talking about themselves, there are methods to soften the message so that it offends no one’s sensitivities! Here are two ideas. 1. Although you have to share your successes, if you tell the story of the struggles - challenges, meetings, research, presentations, partnerships and so on – that led up to the success, you won’t feel quite so boastful. ... Read more

Okay .... the holidays are behind us and the reality of a New Year is upon us.  Many of my clients and friends (including myself) had to intention to formulate their goals and plans for 2012 before the end of the year -- during "available" holiday period time.  But .... as most of us found, the much talked about "available" time got consumed with other (and probably equally important) holiday and family activities. So....what to do?  Make JANUARY your 2012 Plan development month.  Set a personal goal of formulating a COMPELLING personal and professional Plan for the year before the end of January.  Doable?  Absolutely!        

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