Join me for our free webinar on 3/24: “Winning a Successful Career Transition”

Hi Everyone,

I’m co-hosting a free webinar next Wednesday, with the ever-popular LinkedIn expert, Oscar Garcia, and Cory Hiromoto, who is a career expert on many social platforms.

We were on the All-Star Recruiter Panel a few weeks ago that had over 650 registrants. When over 150 stayed on after it ended for an extended Q&A session —  I realized there are many important questions you all have for a smarter job search.

So, we decided to host our own event to go into more depth on the big questions from that night – and with a live Q&A to specifically answer your questions.

Sign up below — and we look forward to seeing your smiling faces on Zoom!

Sue

Winning a Successful Career Transition
Wednesday, March 24^th
7:00 – 8:30 PM PDT

Register for this FREE webinar here:

Transitioning careers can be like riding a big wave. Scary, exciting and fast-changing.

In this FREE webinar, you’ll learn vital tips from the experts to turn the power of the wave in your favor.

Has your job been impacted by COVID? Are you employed yet considering a job or career change?

No matter your situation, it’s smart to pivot and find new ways to navigate the waves of change to find and create your best work.

Register now for this free webinar if you:

• Struggle with how to make your career story compelling to a recruiter or hiring manager
• Need to position a gap in your resume effectively (COVID, caring for children or a sick loved one)
• Would like help identifying strong industries to target
• Want to use tools like LinkedIn to market yourself successfully

Join us to get fresh tips and industry insights from a lively panel of hiring and career experts, followed by a Q&A session with the webinar attendees.

Oscar Garcia is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Aspira Consulting, a Silicon Valley training and consulting firm. He is an introvert turned international speaker. Oscar has given over 400 seminars and trained over 16,000 professionals across five continents. His training style is of a “practrainer” – he actively practices what he trains others to do. He is also the host of the dynamic and engaging podcast, Career Talk With OG. As Chief Empowerment Officer, Oscar empowers you so opportunities come to you.

Cory Hiromoto is the Founder of Career Shakers and a Fortune 100 recruiter for one of the biggest and hottest companies. He has helped corporate professionals change careers and find their next job. He has spoken on the radio, workshops, technology events, and has a YouTube channel where he posts weekly career content.

Sue Connelly is the Founder of The KIT List, and President of Connelly Communications. Sue founded the KIT List community of over 72,000 job seekers, employers and recruiters to “help great people find great jobs.” It started when she was helping friends who had lost jobs. Sue’s REAL job is a marketing consultant creating marketing strategies and programs through Connelly Communications for high-tech and biotech companies.

Join us for free All-Star Recruiter Panel tonight at 7PM (PST) Get the inside scoop on interviews and LinkedIn to land a job!

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick reminder to register by the 5:00 deadline for tonight’s panel of Recruiter All-Stars.

Since it’s online, we can handle up to 1,000 and over 500 people have registered already. So if you’re interested in getting the latest job search and career strategies from this expert panel, you’re welcome to join us!

I’ll be on the panel, too, to share my tips from a KIT List community perspective and what I hear from employers and recruiters. 

This panel is hosted by the Northside Branch of the Santa Clara Library, by the amazing branch manager, Cheryl Lee. We’ve had KIT List panel events there previously. They’ve moved their events online due to COVID so events are to anyone, anywhere!

Please sign up using the link below, and address any questions directly with the library at Northsidelibrary@santaclaraca.gov. NOTE: This event will not be recorded, so please attend online!

Warmly,

 Sue

All-Star Recruiter Panel

Monday, February 1st at 7 PM (PST)

Registration is required by 5PM on 2/1/21 to receive the Zoom link at: https://nsallstarfeb2021.eventbrite.com

Well 2020 was a bust! We are hopeful that 2021 will bring optimism to a dismal job market. We have assembled an all-star career panel that will help you find your next job opportunity. This is your chance to get your questions answered by industry experts, career coaches, and recruiters! Some topics that will be covered are:

• Growth industries that are hiring NOW besides medical
• How to navigate searching for a job during (what seems like) a never ending pandemic.
• Where job opportunities are in the Bay Area and beyond.
• Out of the box strategies a recruiter and/or hiring manager’s attention
• Learn how to stop getting lost in the applicant tracking system

Registration will end on Monday, February 1st at 5 pm PST. 

Participants who have registered will be given access credentials on February 1 by 6 pm PST.

Our panelists include:

Sue Connelly is the President of Connelly Communications and founded the KIT List community of over 72,000 job seekers, employers and recruiters to “help great people find great jobs.” Sue’s real job is as a marketing consultant in the Silicon Valley. Through Connelly Communications, she provides strategic planning and program management to connect companies with their customers in better ways that ignite fierce customer loyalty which drives greater revenue. Sue’s love of marketing led to her creating and teaching marketing and communications best practices webinars to help companies raise the bar of expertise within their own marketing teams. To join the KIT List community to receive or post job opportunities, go to www.KITlist.org

Cory Hiromoto is a Fortune 100 recruiter and his career coaching business, Career Shakers, has helped corporate professionals plan out their careers and find their next job. He’s spoken at workshops, technology events, radio shows, and has a YouTube channel where he posts weekly career content including the Life Switch podcast where he interviews entrepreneurs and other professionals who have switched careers.

Albert Qian is founded Albert’s List in 2013, a job search community with 32,000+ members connecting job seekers, recruiters, hiring managers, service providers, and hiring managers. We have driven over $5 million+ of salaries across the country including hires at GoPro, Google, Cisco, and Ingram Micro and reduced the time of job searches substantially.

Thor Swenson is Partner and Managing Director of Lagom, an international consultancy focusing on Human Capital, Change Management, and Organizational Design. He has a degree in sociology from Louisiana State University and has led talent acquisition, training, leadership development, and change management within multi-million dollar organizations. Thor is a strong proponent of aligning performance for success through effective human capital management in any organization he works with.

Yash Voltaire is a consultant focused on the Human Capital side of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Integrations. He has a degree in industrial-organizational psychology and prior experience within the Big 4. He has driven organization transformations and developed operating models for major oil and gas organizations. His focus is developing scalable and sustainable organizational designs and talent strategies that set organizations up for multiple years of success.

This program is sponsored by the Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends. 

If you have questions about the program, please contact Northsidelibrary@santaclaraca.gov

You’re invited to two events! Job Strategies Expert Panel on 5/20 and Salary Negotiations on 5/21.

Hi Everyone,

I’ll be on a panel along with some savvy industry experts on how to land your dream job (or get a promotion!) on Monday, May 20th.

The second event the following evening will cover Salary Negotiations.

Both events are free and you are welcome to come — and to share this invitation with friends and colleagues. Due to space limits, you must register first!


Job and Career Panel Sponsored by LinkedIn Local
Monday, May 20th
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Northside Branch of the Santa Clara Library
695 Moreland Way, Santa Clara, CA

Join us for a lively and informative panel discussion sprinkled with important tips that could make the difference in nailing your next job, with some great stories as examples — and a few laughs as well!

Hear from the expert panel:

• Oscar Garcia, the ever-engaging and inspiring Linkedin and networking expert and founder of Aspira
• Sue Connelly, the founder of The KIT List
• Krista Mollion, our LinkedInLocal Bay Area Host
• Albert Qian, the founder of Albert’s List
• Connie Brock, the former Program Manager at ProMatch (which has been an excellent resource for many KIT List members!)

Register* (for adults ONLY) at:
https://nslinkedinlocalmay2019.eventbrite.com

NOTE: Registration does not guarantee entry if you’re not on time for the program and the doors close. 

Santa Clara City Library has teamed up with LinkedInLocal Bay Area to provide potential job seekers tools to increase their network. We have assembled an all-star job and career panel that will help you get to your next promotion or job opportunity.

About LinkedInLocal:
LinkedInLocal is a community driven initiative, of super-keen LinkedIn users, not affliated with Linkedin company, to take online connections offline, by hosting local professional networking events worldwide. In just one year, it has really taken off and at last count has 20,000 members in 61 countries, with almost 650 hosts and co-hosts. Read more here and about the SF Bay Area group  here.

 

Salary Negotiation Seminar
Tuesday, May 21st
7:00 – 8:00 PM
Northside Branch Library
695 Moreland Way, Santa Clara, CA

Salary negotiation is one of the most difficult skills for job seekers to master. According to Monster.com, 43% of workers think they are underpaid. Learn how to get paid adequately negotiate your salary!

Learn how to:

• Effectively research your position’s peak compensation.
• Figure out your opening job offer.
• Advocate for your knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Decide when to accept or decline a salary… and do it gracefully without scaring your future employer.

Register* (for adults ONLY) here: https://nssalarymay2019.eventbrite.com

*A ticket does not guarantee entry to the program if you do not arrive on time. Any leftover seats will be given away to the waitlist after the doors open. Doors will close immediately after the event begins or after the event reaches capacity. Your attendance to this program grants permission to the City of Santa Clara to take your photograph and/or your child’s photograph for marketing purposes.

 

See you next Monday at the panel event! And you’re also welcome to sign up for the Salary Negotiations event the next evening.

Here’s to finding a job that you’ll love!

Sue

 

Come to our “Ask the Recruiter” Expert Panel Event on 7/25!

Hi Everyone,

Have you ever had a question that you were just dying to ask an employer or recruiter about the hiring process, how to land the right job, or how to get a promotion? 

Now, you’ll have a chance to hear directly from the hiring experts their smartest tips, the mistakes to avoid, and the inside scoop from the employer/recruiter standpoint!

The KIT List is hosting this free event, and I will moderate a panel of five experts from some of the Silicon Valley’s top recruitment firms for permanent, temp-to-perm and contract placements. We’ll have a combination of prepared questions and Q&A from the audience. 

Our panel will share their expert advice from working with companies including Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn, Nike, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, VMWare, Intuit, NetApp, Adobe, Stanford Health Care, Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, Kaiser, Blue Shield, Safeway, Varian Medical Systems, Brocade, and Gigamon, to name a few.

Join us at the beautiful Northside Branch of the Santa Clara Library in their large events room.

There is a space limit of 100 so please register for this free event, and be sure to arrive early to get a seat since this will be standing room only (if you can’t get in, then join us for the free mixer afterward). 

Tuesday, 7/25
7:00 – 8:30 PM  

Northside Branch Library
695 Moreland Way
Santa Clara CA 

There is no charge, but please register and arrive early: https://nskitlistpanel.eventbrite.com

Post-Event Mixer:
8:30 – 9:30 PM at Yan Can Asian Bistro (Across the street from the Library) 
The mixer is free; just pay for your own food and drinks. Some of the panelists will join us as well. 

This is a special opportunity to ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask — and to get beyond the basics!

You are welcome to share this invitation with friends and colleagues, too. 

We hope to see you there!

Sue and Kelly Connelly 
(Yep, we’re sisters!) 
Your KIT List Team

Free Phone Interview Preparation for Women on 9/16

Hello Everyone,

The Silicon Valley and Bay Area are quite robust with free and low-cost career and job resources.

One upcoming event is worth attending since so much of the job search process depends on successful phone interviews before you ever meet the team in person. It’s always a smart idea to keep those skills fresh, especially if it’s been a while since your last search, or to pick up some essential tips if you don’t feel you project your best over the phone.

This event is being conducted free-of-charge by the experts at CareerGenerations in a unique spot in Palo Alto called Deborah’s Palm Women’s Center.

The details are below and feel free to share this with other women who’d benefit from this free training!

Warmly,

Sue

Free Phone Interview Training for Women

Wednesday, Sept. 16

5:30 – 7:00pm

Deborah’s Palm Women’s Center 

555 Lytton Avenue

Palo Alto, CA  94301

Parking is available behind the house (cross streets are Webster & Cowper) at 555 Everett Court.

Employers are starting the interview process with the often challenging “phone screen.” Come and find out how you can best prepare yourself for these meetings so you can move on in the interview process as smoothly and quickly as possible!

The session is free, but pre-registration is required. Light refreshments provided.

Join this fun, interactive session where you’ll learn how to leverage your strengths, distinguish yourself, and be more comfortable during phone interviews.

No cost. Pre-registration is required.

Please note this session is for women only.

To Register, please click here. 

If you have problems with the link, below is the full URL:

http://careergenerations.com/events/free-phone-screen-interview-prep-for-women-sept-16/

About Deborah’s Palm:

www.DeborahsPalm.com

Deborah’s Palm is a non-profit organization offering all women a place to unwind, connect with others, discover new options, and restore a sense of well-being. In a warm and welcoming environment, women can find encouragement and support via professional counseling, access to resources, activities, classes, mentoring and community service projects.

Meeting this Saturday: “Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk” by Noted Anthropologist

Hi Everyone,

There’s a great event coming up this Saturday by our friends with the Career Actions Network, which is a remarkable organization through MPPC (Menlo Park Presbyterian Church), that provides free services to help get people connected into jobs.

Presented by an anthropologist, Ilana Gershon, who was a visiting professor at Stanford, this is relevant information to those who want to change jobs (not only people who lost their jobs, but also the employed 50% who want to change jobs).

As a visiting professor at Stanford, Ilana spent last year researching job transition in Silicon Valley. She collaborated with the Career Actions Network while she was doing her research, and she is currently on their Advisory Board.

This is worth attending. Pass
the word and bring a friend!

Warmly,

Sue

MPPC Career Actions Meeting 5/16:
“Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk” by Noted Anthropologist

New Attendees pre-register here (its free): www.careeractions.org

Saturday, May 16

ODCMV Fellowship Hall at 1667 Miramonte Ave., Mountain View, CA

Agenda:

9:30am: Coffee/networking

9:55am Topic: Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk

Guest Speaker: Ilana Gershon

About the presentation:

What do you need to do to get a job in this digital age? Do you need a LinkedIn profile? Are hiring managers looking for your personal brand? Ilana Gershon is an anthropology professor at Indiana University who thought asking job seekers, hiring managers, recruiters and HR how hiring works might shed some insights into what is actually going on in contemporary US as hiring and the nature of work changes. She did a year of fieldwork in the Bay Area, trying to figure out what has changed about hiring since the 1980s. Find out what an anthropologist has to say about hiring these days.

About the speaker:

Ilana Gershon is a cultural anthropologist at Indiana University interested in how new media transforms highly-charged social tasks, such as breaking up or hiring in the United States. She has written about how people use new media to end romantic relationships in The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media. Her current research addresses how new media shapes hiring in post-recession U.S. companies.

In May or June, she will have a new edited collection of imagined career advice for real jobs around the world. If you want to know how to be a professional wrestler in Mexico or a magician in Paris, pick up a copy of A World of Work: Imagined Manuals for Real Jobs (Cornell University Press, 2015).

“Career Choices You Will Regret In 20 Years” – By Bernard Marr

Hello Everyone,

This article by Bernard Marr makes some excellent points that you may not have considered — or smart thinking you already know but need to reinforce in your job selection. This was worth sharing with our community!

Warmly,

Sue

Career Choices You Will Regret In 20 Years
By Bernard Marr
12-15-2014

Every day we are faced with choices in our careers that will affect us over the long term. Should I volunteer for that new project? Should I ask for a raise? Should I take a sabbatical? Should I say yes to overtime?

But sometimes we miss the biggest choices that will cause us to look back on our careers 20 years from now with pride and contentment — or regret.

Here are some of the career choices we often make but will regret deeply in 20 years’ time:

Pretending to be something you’re not.

Maybe you’re pretending to be a sports fan to impress your boss, or you’re keeping your mouth shut about something to keep the peace. Maybe you’re pretending that you’re an expert in something that’s really not your cup of tea. But continuously pretending to be something you’re not is not being true to yourself and will keep you feeling empty.

Making decisions based only on money.

Whether we’re talking about your personal salary or your project’s budget, making decisions solely based on money is almost never a good idea. Sure, it’s important to run the numbers, but there are dozens of other factors — including your gut feeling — you’ll want to take into account.

Thinking you can change something about the job.

Much like a relationship, if you go into a job thinking, “This would be the perfect job, if only…” that’s a red flag. Chances are, unless you’re taking a leadership, C-level position, you aren’t going to be able to change things that are fundamentally wrong.

Settling.

You’ve got an OK job, with an OK salary, and OK benefits, but what you really want is… You’re not doing yourself any favors settling for something that is just OK. Believe in yourself enough to go after what you deserve, whether it’s a new position, a pay rise, or an opportunity.

Working 50, 60, 80 hour weeks.

You might think you have to work that much — because it’s expected, because you need the money, because you want to look good to your boss — but no one reaches their deathbed and says, “Gosh, I wish I’d spent more time working.”

Putting friends and family last.

Being successful at your career means surrounding yourself with supportive people — and often, those people aren’t your coworkers or employees, they’re your friends and family. Ruin those relationships and you may find your career success just doesn’t matter as much.

Micromanaging everything.

This applies to your team and employees, but also to life in general. If you micromanage everything instead of sometimes just letting life happen, you’ll find yourself constantly battling anxiety and overwhelm.

Avoid making mistakes.

If you’re actively avoiding making mistakes in your career, then you’re not taking risks. And while you may keep up the status quo, you won’t be rewarded, either. Take the risk. Make the mistake. Own it and learn from it.

Thinking only of yourself.

The best networking strategy you can possibly have is to actively look for opportunities to help others. If you’re always putting yourself and your needs first, you’ll find you don’t get very far.

Not valuing your own happiness.

It’s a sad truth that people often believe they can put off happiness until later, but sometimes later doesn’t come. Prioritize being happy today. That might mean switching jobs, or it might just mean choosing to be happier with the job you’ve got.

What do you think are the biggest career choices people regret? As always, I’d love to hear your ideas and stories in the comments below.

Also, if you would like to read my regular posts send me a LinkedIn invite. And, of course, feel free to also connect via Twitter, Facebookand The Advanced Performance Institute.

About:
Bernard Marr is a globally recognized expert in strategy, performance management, analytics, KPIs and big data. He helps companies and executive teams manage, measure and improve performance. His latest books are ’25 Need-to-Know Key Performance Indicators’ and ‘Doing More with Less’.

“How to Get the Job When You Don’t Have the Experience” on LinkedIn

Hello Everyone,

I saw this great article on my LinkedIn feed last week, and James Citrin makes some really good points on what to do if you are a recent graduate — or an experienced professional who wants to pursue new a career direction or go after your passion.

Now, I encourage you to go out and GO FOR IT and find a job you’ll love!

Warmly,

Sue

How to Get the Job When You Don’t Have the Experience
By James Citrin (posted on LinkedIn)

 

“The Permission Paradox” – You can’t get the job without the experience but you can’t get the experience without the job – is one of the great career Catch-22s. This challenge will confront you over the lifetime of your career, whether you’re trying to break into the work force or you’re to become a CEO for the first time. While the phenomenon can be frustrating no matter what your level, the Permission Paradox is especially challenging for today’s aspiring young professional and recent graduates.

Overcoming this conundrum is fundamental both to launching your career successfully and thriving over the long term. You are confident in your abilities if only you’re given the chance. The hard part is getting the shot to show what you can do.

Go to the full article to get the Five Permission Strategies:
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140811235043-203184238-how-to-overcome-the-permission-paradox-you-can-t-get-the-job-without-the-experience-but-you-can-t-get-the-experience-without-the-job

 

5 Ways to Follow Up Without Being Annoying

Hello Everyone,

This recent article in “The Daily Muse” has some smart points on how to strike that right balance between dropping the ball on following up — and being a stalker!

Don’t be disheartened if you don’t hear back the first time since recruiters and employers are also overwhelmed with email and other communications on top of their regular workload. DO follow up, DO be clever about it. It’s worth it!

Happy reading,

Sue

Link to the article:
http://mashable.com/2014/04/05/effective-follow-up/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

5 Ways to Follow Up Without Being Annoying

By ELLIOTT BELL for The Daily Muse
Apr 05, 2014

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about his job search that went something like this:

Friend: I wrote to him last week and still haven’t heard back. It’s so frustrating.
Me: Why not follow up and check in?
Friend: I don’t want to be annoying.

The fear is understandable. No one wants to be annoying or bothersome to a professional contact, especially when you want a job, meeting, sales dollars, or something else very important from that person.

But here’s the rub. The average person can get a few hundred emails a day. That makes it pretty tough to respond to all of them, and things naturally fall to the bottom of the list. If you don’t get a response, it doesn’t mean that someone’s ignoring you — it just may mean that he or she is too busy.

So, to the question: Should you follow up? Absolutely. In fact, it’s your job. And how often should you do so? One philosophy is: As many times as it takes. The important thing is to do it the right way. Or, as some may call it, to be “pleasantly persistent.”

Here are a few tips on how to (nicely) follow up with that hiring manager, sales lead, or VIP—and get the answer you’re looking for.

Rule 1: Be Overly Polite and Humble

That seems obvious enough, but a lot of people take it personally when they don’t hear back from someone right away. Resist the urge to get upset or mad, and never take your feelings out in an email, saying something like, “You haven’t responded yet,” or “You ignored my first email.” Just maintain an extremely polite tone throughout the entire email thread. Showing that you’re friendly and that you understand how busy your contact is is a good way to keep him or her interested (and not mad).

Rule 2: Persistent Doesn’t Mean Every Day

Sending a follow-up email every day doesn’t show you have gumption or passion, it shows you don’t respect a person’s time. The general rule of thumbis to give at least a week before following up. Any sooner, and it might come off as pushy; let too much time pass, and you risk the other person not having any clue who you are. I typically start off with an email every week, and then switch to every couple of weeks.

Rule 3: Directly Ask if You Should Stop Reaching Out

If you’ve followed up a few times and still haven’t heard back, it’s worth directly asking if you should stop following up. After all, you don’t want to waste your time, either. I’ll sometimes say, “I know how busy you are and completely understand if you just haven’t had the time to reach back out. But I don’t want to bombard you with emails if you’re not interested. Just let me know if you’d prefer I stop following up.” Most people respect honesty and don’t want to waste someone’s time, and they’ll at least let you know one way or another.

Rule 4: Stand Out in a Good Way

I once had someone trying to sell me something that I was remotely interested in but that was nowhere near the top of my priority list. Every week, he’d send me a new email quickly re-explaining what he sold—as well as a suggestion for good pizza to try around the city. Why? He had seen a blog post where I mentioned I’d eat pizza 24/7 if I could, and cleverly worked that into his follow-up. It made him stand out in a good way, and as a result, we eventually had a call.

The lesson: If done well, a little creativity in your follow up can go a long way. If you’re following up about a job, tryAlexandra Franzen’s tips for giving the hiring manager something he or she can’t resist.

Rule 5: Change it Up

If you’re not connecting with someone, try changing it up. In other words, don’t send the exact same email at the same time of day on the same day of week. Getting people to respond can sometimes just come down to catching them at the right time. If you always follow up in the morning, maybe try later in the day a few times.

Remember: If someone does ask you to stop following up, stop following up. But until you hear that, it’s your responsibility to keep trying.