10 Little Known LinkedIn Features That Can Make A Big Difference

Thanks Wayne for the help!
Ev

10 Little Known LinkedIn Features That Can Make A Big Difference
by Wayne

Since we are in the middle of a holiday weekend here
in the U.S., I thought I would give you a vacation from deep strategic thinking and share with you a quick checklist of ten great LinkedIn features that you may not have discovered just yet.

1. Reorder your profile sections
Anytime you are in Edit Profile and you see the up-down arrow, it means you can move that section. This will help you emphasize the most important aspects of your profile.

2. Download a list of your entire 1st degree network
You can download into a spreadsheet (in either .CSV or .VCF format) a full list of your connections, including their name, current title, current company name, and email address. There are two ways to access this. If you have upgraded to LinkedIn Contacts (it’s free and I highly recommend it), go into your settings (top right) and click Export LinkedIn Connections. If you have not upgraded yet, go to your Contacts and on the bottom right click Export Contacts.


3. Delete Skills & Expertise entries
In Edit Profile, just click Edit in the Skills & Expertise section. You will then be able to eliminate all the inapplicable or downright silly terms that have suddenly appeared on your profile and have nothing to do with your skills, expertise, or products and services you sell or represent. Just click the X next to the skill you want to remove.

4. Find other people with similar outside interests or organizations
If you click a single word (Interest Section) or name of an organization (Organizations Section), you will then be sent to an Advanced People Search page showing you all the folks on LinkedIn who have that same interest or organization on their profile. You can further narrow your search by using any or all of the advanced searching filters.

5. Display media files on your profile
It’s referred to as your Professional Gallery and it’s a way to display your best video, audio, documents, slideshows, etc. on your profile in the Summary, Job Experience or Education sections. Just click the Add Media icon and either upload the file or add a link to a web address where it is already saved. When you are in Edit Profile, the media icon is between the pencil and the up-down arrow.

6. Reorder your recommendations
Because only two
recommendations for each job or education entry are shown in the main part of your profile, you want to make sure they are your very best.
In Edit Profile, go down to the Recommendation section and click the pencil. You’ll then see the up-down arrow that enables you to move the recommendations. You can only move them within that specific job section. You can’t move them to a different job section.

7. Find specific details about alumni
Dig into the LinkedIn alumni database for any school (not just the ones you attended), and find out the following information:
•Where they live
•Where they work
•What they do
•What they studied
•What their skills are
•How you are connected to them
.You can also use keywords to dig deeper into the list.
Access this database by either clicking the name of a school on anyone’s profile or by clicking Interests>Education>Alumni on your top toolbar and entering the name of the school you want to search.

8. Reduce or eliminate the number of emails you get from your groups
The default is daily. If you want to change this, go to Privacy & Settings>Groups, Companies & Applications. Under Set the frequency of group digest emails, choose either weekly or no email. You can adjust all of your groups from this single page.

9. Send a single message to up to 50 of your 1st degree connections at the same time
This one should come with a caution warning because if not used carefully, you may cause a person to drop you as a connection or label you a spammer.
To access this, click the little envelope on your top toolbar. Then click the Compose Message button. Enter the connections you want to email or use the filter button to refine your list. The filter button is the small LinkedIn logo next to the box you enter people’s names in.

10. Review details of and search into a 1st degree connection’s network
You can review the breakdown of a person’s network by the following criteria: company, school, location, industry, and skills. Click any of the circles to view a list of all the people in that category.
You can also search someone’s network with keywords and all other advanced search filters by clicking the magnifying glass located in the Connections section of his/her profile and entering the keywords you want to search for.
You can then click Advanced Search and further refine your search.
Both of these techniques are available for any of your connections that have not chosen to turn off the viewablity of their connections.
I hope you found a couple new features on this list that will help you increase your effectiveness on LinkedIn.

Honor Memorial Day

While you are out enjoying this Memorial Day. Take a minute to say thanks to those that fell to allow us to enjoy our freedoms.
Thanks Dad and all the other members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team!
Ev

442nd RCIT History
"All of us can't stay in the [internment] camps until the end of the war. Some of us have to go to the front. Our record on the battlefield will determine when you will return and how you will be treated. I don't know if I'll make it back."
Technical Sergeant Abraham Ohama, Company "F", 442nd RCT, Killed in Action 10/20/1944

"They were superb! That word correctly describes it: superb!
They took terrific casualties. They showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit. Not too much can be said of the performance of those battalions in Europe and everybody wanted them...."
General George C. Marshall

"...I had the honor to command the men of the 442nd Combat Team. You fought magnificently in the field of battle and wrote brilliant chapters in the military history of our country. They demonstrated conclusively the loyalty and valor of our American citizens of Japanese ancestry in combat."
General Mark W. Clark

"...I cannot say, however, that their "Go For Broke" service has ever been adequately honored, but I do know that any objective appraisal of the record of this unit will place it high up in the annals of our military history...
Whether in France, Italy or elsewhere, I know of no units in the American Army that fought and persevered more gallantly than did those Nisei companies and battalions."
John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War

"The Nisei troops are among the best in the United States Army and the respect and the appreciation due honorable, loyal, and courageous soldiers should be their's rather than the scorn and ridicule they have been receiving from some thoughtless and uninformed citizens and veterans."
Major General E.M. Almond

"The members of the Combat Team have made a magnificent record of which they and all Americans should be proud. This record, without a doubt, is the most important single factor in creating in this country a more understanding attitude toward the people of Japanese descent."
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior

How to Gain an Interviewing Advantage

 Thanks to Lou Adler for the advice.
Ev

How to Gain an Interviewing Advantage

1) Be prepared. An interview is more important than any major presentation you’ll ever make. You need to be just as prepared. Part of this is reading about the company, the industry, the job description, and the LinkedIn profiles of the people you’ll be meeting. But this is just a start. Knowing yourself, your resume and work history inside-out, your strengths and weaknesses, and preparing to ask and answer questions is the hard part.

2) Ask insightful questions. Interviewers judge candidates on three big areas: the candidate’s first impression, the quality of the answers, and the quality of the questions. Great questions can often overcome weaknesses in the other areas. The best questions focus on the impact and challenges of the role, and the relationship of the job to the business.

3) Convert the interview into a past performance review. If the interviewer seems to be box-checking skills and experiences, ask about the major performance expectations for the job. Then give examples of your biggest accomplishments to validate you’ve done work that’s comparable to what needs to be done.

4) Prove strengths and neutralize weaknesses. Write down all of your strengths and weaknesses. For each strength come up with 1-2 actual accomplishments you can use as examples to prove the strength. To neutralize a weakness, describe how you converted it into a learning experience, or how you manage to deal with it.

5) Ask about next steps. Towards the end of the interview, ask where you stand, and find out the next steps. If the interviewer is vague or non-committal, you’re probably not going to be called back. In this case, ask if there is something missing in your background or skill set that the job requires. Once you know this, you might be able to minimize the concern by describing some comparable accomplishment that was previously not considered.

For most hiring managers, the interviewer is more about box-checking and validating skills, combined with a big dose of gut feel and intuition. A savvy job-seeker can turn the odds in his or her favor by being prepared, recognizing that the interview isn’t a lecture or a series of 30-second responses, and asking insightful, business-oriented questions. Preventing what can go wrong is a great way to ensure things go right.

__________________________________________

Lou Adler (@LouA) is the CEO of The Adler Group, a full-service talent acquisition consulting firm. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), covers the Performance-based Interviewing process described in this article in more depth. For instant hiring advice join Lou's LinkedIn group and follow his Wisdom About Work series on Facebook.

Five Things You Must Not Do in an Interview

Thanks to Lou Adler for the advice.
Ev

How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot in the Interview

1) Stop using generalities, like “I’m a problem-solver” and “I’m a real team player.” Generalities about strengths are ignored, forgotten, or not heard. When interviewers evaluate a candidate they recall the examples and stories the candidate used to prove a point. From these examples they conclude to what degree the candidate possesses the strength or attribute.

2) Never say “I don’t have any weaknesses.” Everybody has weaknesses. The point of the question isn’t even about weaknesses; it’s an attempt to determine your character, honesty, and self-awareness. On the surface, saying you don’t have any weaknesses implies you’ve stopped growing, can’t learn anything new and can’t be coached. Openly stating a weakness, and describing how you’ve learned from it, indicates a willingness to get better.

3) Don’t give answers that are too short or too long. In an interview, you’re judged not just on the content of your answers, but also the quality of how they’re presented. The best answers are 1-2 minutes long. If your answers are too short you’re assumed to lack ability or insight, or interest. Worse, you force the interviewer to work too hard. Interviewees who talk too much are considered self-absorbed, boring and imprecise. Worse, after two minutes the interviewer tunes you out and doesn’t hear a thing you’ve said.

4) Don’t ask “what’s in it for me” questions. At the beginning of the interview, assume you’re the seller, even if you’re the hottest, in-demand candidate in the world. Asking self-serving questions like “what does the job pay?” or questions about benefits and related superficialities, are an instant turn-off. It’s certainly okay to ask about these things once the interviewer signals that you’re a serious candidate for the job.

5) Don’t look at your resume. During the interview you must not look at your resume. This is a sign you’re either nervous (which you probably will be), or you fabricated something. Interviewers expect you to know your work history completely, including companies, dates, job titles, roles, responsibilities and key accomplishments. To help recall these important details, write them down on a few 3X5 cards before the interview.


__________________________________________

Lou Adler (@LouA) is the CEO of The Adler Group, a full-service talent acquisition consulting firm. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), covers the Performance-based Interviewing process described in this article in more depth. For instant hiring advice join Lou's LinkedIn group and follow his Wisdom About Work series on Facebook.

Gorilla Librarian: Dress Appropriately for Sales Appointments and Interviews

When going to a sales meeting or interview, dress professionally. Research the company first. 
If their culture is to wear beach clothes to the office, it doesn't give you the right to do the same. 
Dress professionally so they take you serious as a professional.

I have to admit that part of the reason for writing this article to have an excuse for another Monty Python clip. Any blog can be made more interesting by Monty Python. Scientific fact.
Thanks for reading!
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

How To Conceal Your Age

Thanks Laura for some easy tips.
Ev

Job Hunt: How to Conceal Your Age

Laura Pierson

how-to-conceal-your-age/

Ageism is rampant in our economy. Older employees are often laid off, discharged, and overlooked for promotions or new jobs. Hiring managers will often say an older candidate is “not a good ‘culture fit’” or “over experienced.”  But what they really mean is, this candidate is too old and we don’t want to risk hiring someone who might retire, ask for too much money, or get sick to go on disability.
How can you conceal your age in this economy?

First, try to omit dates. When listing your education, do not include a graduating year. I have seen recruiters completely pass over a candidate who graduated college in the 1970s.  Another good tip is to exclude some of your older jobs from your early twenties, especially if they are not related to your current career. College jobs, early jobs, and brief jobs from your past can all age your resume.

Second, create an eye-catching “pitch.” At the top of your resume, you may include a line such as the following, “Marketing Professional with over 30 years of experience.” While it is impressive that you have so many years of experience, you may bring that number down to 20, and it will be just as effective. Also, include some of your biggest achievements and awards in that first line to really catch the attention of hiring managers. Show that your “seasoned experience” is beneficial because you have had a proven record. Compared to those young professionals in their 30s who think they know what they are doing, you know what you are doing. Do not be afraid to show that. However, keep it at a delicate balance so that you do not seem too seasoned.

Third, update your look. An old, outdated look can add years to an individual’s actual age. Getting a contemporary haircut, gently dyeing those gray hairs, wearing a little bit of tasteful makeup, whitening your teeth, losing weight, and updating your wardrobe with a clean new suit can make you look 10-15 years younger! Men who are balding should keep their hair shorter or even consider shaving their heads bald. According to Alfred Mannes, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, bald men appear more dominant and bold in the workplace. Women, too, can create younger hairstyles by adding layers and bangs to conceal wrinkles or adding hair extensions and gentle highlights for a more youthful glow.

Fourth, it is always beneficial to stay up to date on cultural events. A well-rounded individual who stays up to date on business as well as media trends always appears more youthful and sociable. Job candidates can easily achieve this by reading headlines, watching the news, flipping through popular magazines such as Time, Business Weekly, Fortune, Entrepreneur, and newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, to name a few.

Lastly, I admit I am not very old and still have much to learn. I have learned a tremendous amount from my older colleagues and continue to learn from them daily. It pains me to see so many older people get laid off and attend interview after interview without much luck.While this guide is intended to help conceal an individual’s age, it is far from an exhaustive list of techniques. I invite you to read my other articles on job hunting tips and I wish you all the best of luck in your job search.

Interview Questions to Ask-by Jamie from TEKsystems

Jamie Grancis is a great recruiter and a valuable resource for anyone in the IT and Recruiting world.
She has helped the people I work with on many occassions and here is some advice she has given to those that look for a job.
Thanks Jamie!
Ev


Here is some basic interview info that I send to everyone
by
Jamie (Schroeder) Garancis
Professional Recruiter at TEKsystems

Be sure to prepare many questions involving the job, initiatives as a company, and culture. Questions are a must! For a personal interview, you can bring them in written form in a neat looking binder or folder.
Some examples of good questions to ask that are not related to the technology of the job are:

1. What kind of improvements is your organization currently working on?
2. What types of growth opportunities exist at the organization?
3. How would you describe the company’s culture?
4. What are your expectations of me?
5. What types of people tend to excel at this organization?
6. What are some strategic initiatives for next year?

Potential questions for you to ask during the Interview:

Finally, below are some questions that I suggest you think about asking during the interview. It is important to ask questions during the interview so these questions are a great starting point.

1. What do you see being the biggest challenge I would face if selected for this project?
2. What results would you expect from me on this project in my first week, first month and for the overall project?
3. What are your responsibilities at this comany?
4. Who or what team(s)/group(s) would I interact with the most? Why?
5. How would you measure my success on this project?
6. Are there any answers I have given during our time together that you would like additional insight on?
7. Do you have any concerns about any of my answers or how my background matches with your needs for this project?
8. Based on my previous working experience and background I feel I would excel on this project, how do you feel about my abilities?
9. What do you look for in someone to be successful at this company?
10. What advice would you give me to be successful on this project?
11. What are some common mistakes that you have seen people make in the past at this company that impact the person’s ability to achieve desired business results?

Basic Interview Tips:
1. Do not act in an arrogant manner, but still act confident.
2. Speak slowly and clearly.
3. The least amount of questions it would be acceptable for you to ask is 6 (the more the better).
4. When asked if you have had XYZ experience, and your answer is “no”, do not leave it at that. Explain how your previous experiences would qualify you to deal with the experience the company is looking for. So, your answer may go as follows:
Client: Have you ever had experience within a designated leadership role in your last position?
You: No, I haven’t ever had a leadership title, but I was considered a leader on my team by my peers.
They often consulted me when they had questions and my supervisor often left me to mentor new employees.
5. Be sure to give examples when they ask questions.
6. Emphasize that you want to use the skills you have gained through your education and in the industry.
7. Be enthusiastic! At the end of the interview, ask what the next steps are, or maybe if there is anywhere you fell short or they weren’t clear on.

At the end of the interview - let them know you want the job!!

March 2014 Jokes

Here are this month's jokes.
Thanks for reading!
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy


Q: Why did Mickey Mouse get shot?
A: Because Donald ducked.

What has 72 arms and 36 heads an has an I.Q. of 12?
A redneck bar on friday night

Q: Why did Florida orange growers offer O.J. Simpson $3 million?
A: To change his name to Apple Juice.

Q: How many IT guys does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None, that's a Facilities problem.

A Dell employee got busted for pot in Manhattan recently. Many lawmakers are surprisingly upset, as they have always pushed the view that marijuanna is a Gateway drug.

Q: What two words contain the most letters?
A: Post Office.

The Right to Be Remembered

Peter Weddle has provided great insights into HR, recruiting, and recruitment advertising over the years. Here is another one. Thanks Peter! Ev Privacy advocates are fighting for the right to be forgotten on the Web. Online mistakes are visible to everyone, so we need to be sure they won't live on forever. In today's workplace, however, we require a different kind of guarantee. We need to preserve our right to be remembered. It used to be that managing your career was a lot like riding a bicycle. With an occasional pump of the peddles, you could coast for quite awhile and still move forward. Rely on such a leisurely pace today, and you're likely to suffer a violent crash or what most of us call unemployment. Why? Because many our employers are now suffering from "employment dementia." They don't recognize all of the contributions we've made to their success in the past, and they can't remember what we did for them just the other day. Our track records have faded away, and our contributions have been lost. This condition isn't something employers chose to experience. It was imposed on them by the fierce competition they face in the global marketplace. That challenge comes at them without let up and from every direction. The pressure is intense, the demands are enormous. In such an environment, survival (let alone success) demands ever higher levels of performance from everyone on the payroll. The only thing employers remember is "what you can do for them next" rather than "what you did for them in the past." How to Reinforce Your Employer's Memory Being remembered begins with being proactive in your career's management. As I describe in The Career Fitness Workbook, building a healthy career is just like building up your physical fitness. You have to take personal responsibility for making it happen, and you have to work on it every single day. And that's a challenge. We humans are prone to a fitness-sapping disease called OBE - overtaken by events. We do all the right things - we set goals for our career, we start exercising to increase its strength, reach and endurance - and then life gets in the way. Our boss or our job suddenly needs our full attention, and our self-improvement get sacrificed. How can you avoid this debilitating situation? Do all the right things and monitor your progress. Give yourself a Quarterly Performance Review. Sit down quietly and evaluate your progress. If you've stuck to your career exercising regimen, give yourself a pat on the back; it you've let your commitment slip, determine how best to get back on track. Finally, ask yourself if you're making sufficient progress to be remembered. How can you tell? The effort you've made in the previous quarter must have produced a "career victory" - an advance in your knowledge, skills, ability, wisdom, or experience that's worth telling others about. In other words, the outcome of each 90-day commitment to building career fitness should be a memory - a memory that you share with your boss and your employer. That's the secret to achieving durable employment security in a demanding global marketplace. You do it by being remembered over and over again. Thanks for reading, Peter Visit me at Weddles.com

February 2014 Jokes

This month features true riddles. In the spirit of Frank Gorshin, the Riddler on Batman, have fun with these!
Ev
A Heck of Nice Guy

If three cats catch three mice in three minutes, how many cats would be needed to catch 100 mice in 100 minutes?
The same three cats would do. Since these three cats are averaging one mouse per minute, given 100 minutes, the cats could catch 100 mice.



Four men were in a boat on the lake. The boat turns over, and all four men sink to the bottom of the lake, yet not a single man got wet! Why?
Because they were all married and not single.



How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?
Only one time. After that, you would be subtracting from 20.


Dave and Brad, two popular politicians, met at a club to discuss the overthrow of their party leader. They each ordered a vodka on the rocks. Brad downed his and ordered another. He then drank his second in a gulp and decided to wait before he ordered a third. Meanwhile, Dave, who was sipping his drink, suddenly fell forward dead. Both men were setup for an assassination. Why did Dave die and Brad live?
Both Dave and Brad were given drinks with poisoned ice cubes. Brad drank his drinks so quickly that the ice didn't have time to melt and release the poison.


If a wheel has 64 spokes,
how many spaces are there
between the spokes?
64.
The space that comes after the 64th spoke,
would be just before the first spoke.

When can you add two to eleven and get one as the correct answer?
When you add two hours to eleven o'clock, you get one o'clock.

A black dog stands in the middle of an intersecton in a town painted black. None of the street lights are working due to a power failure caused by a storm. A car with two broken headlights drives towards the dog but turns in time to avoid hitting him. How could the driver have seen the dog in time?
Who said this happened during the night?