There may be grumbling that the country is slipping into another Great Depression, but firms in the advertising and public-relations industry want to put the situation in the best light, and treat the economic crisis as an opportunity. (more…)
In light of the troubling economic climate and tightening job market, what is the one thing that job-seekers must do in order to be successful in landing a good job in 2009?
Exhaust All Options
Tell everyone you know about the type of position you are looking for, network online and at industry events, go on informational interviews, work with a recruiting firm, take on temporary assignments, and be flexible when meeting with prospective employers.
When developing your cover letter and resume, quantify the value of your contributions to previous employers, including how you helped cut costs, reduce inefficiencies or improve profitability. There are opportunities available, but job seekers will have to work harder to find them and cannot afford to leave even one stone unturned. - DeLynn Senna, executive director of North American permanent placement services, Robert Half International
Network With Smarts
Candidates must be building and strengthening their network – ideally before it’s needed. Find networking events to go find other like-minded individuals and connectors. Build your online presence through your social networks and be an active participant in the community. And remember to give more than take – share your knowledge, help others be better, and invest time in building strong, long-lasting relationships. These are the relationships that could turn into future job leads. - Lindsay Olson, partner, Paradigm Staffing
Flexibility Is Key
Stay open to opportunities in new or related industries, companies of a different size, or in a different location; and be aware that with the advent of technology, a new location just may be your home office.
Be flexible. You may or may not have to travel a bit more, take a different title, or give up some of the perks you’ve had in the past to assume your new role. All things being equal, if you’re flexible around these topics you’re chances of getting hired increase considerably. - Cheryl Ferguson, recruiter, The Recruiter’s Studio
Diversify and Listen
My advice is two-fold: Be ready to diversify the ways in which you communicate your experiences AND listen well.
First, make a laundry list, just for yourself, of all the projects, contributions, ideas, etc., from your last three positions. This is what’s not on your resume. It jogs your memory about how you have differentiated yourself. You’ll recall and distill examples of your success, and you’ll be ready for more questions.
Second, listen closely to what the recruiter and/or hiring manager is asking you. They are looking for something very particular, whether the opportunity is leadership or entry-level. Walking someone through your resume or citing examples that they’re not seeking could hinder your ability to seem specific to their job. You want to be very clear about your transferable skills and your willingness to adapt to their environment. - Ross Pasquale, recruiting/sourcing consultant, Monday Ventures
Tailor Your Resume
The most important thing that job seekers must do in 2009 to be successful is to diversify the content of their resumes based on the roles that they are applying for. For example, a job seeker may have worked in the past as a Java engineer, and also obtained project management along the way. However, a resume that is oriented strongly toward being a Java engineer has only a slight chance of being considered for a project-manager position.
For job seekers to increase their chances at success, they should shape their resumes to reflect relevant matching skills with the job posting(s) they are applying to. By doing so, a recruiter and/or hiring manager will more easily understand how a job seeker’s past experiences apply to the posted role. This method increases the chance of being considered a strong candidate, receiving an interview, and, ultimately, a new position. - Joanna Samuels, senior account manager, GravityPeople
Online site has advantages, risks for businesses trying to draw customers
The Business Journal of Milwaukee – by Rich Kirchen
Steve Thuilliez posted a video for his window and door business on YouTube recently as he strives to determine which online advertising venue will best attract customers.
He hired a California Web advertising firm to produce the video and is paying $200 per month for the firm’s services, including the video. Since the video was posted in September 2008, it received 270 views for Thuilliez’ HomePro Window & Door LLC – but no indication of any sales leads.
“I’m trying to increase my ‘Net presence,” said Thuilliez, who runs the window and door replacement business from his Delafield home.
YouTube is one of the most rapidly emerging frontiers in advertising and marketing via the Internet, but advertisers are only in the early stages of figuring out how best to tap YouTube.
The selling points are that it’s free and it’s already one of the most-used online communities in the world. The challenge for an advertiser is how to draw Internet surfers to its video.
Seventy-five percent of Americans watched a video online last month, and YouTube is the leader in the category with hundreds of millions of videos viewed daily, according to YouTube, which is owned by Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif.
The consensus among advertising executives is anything that smacks of conventional advertising won’t work on YouTube because people prefer not to watch commercials. Also, advertisers need to know their videos will run among thousands of amateur videos ranging from well-done and creative to cheap and distasteful.
“It’s very crowded – there’s a lot of really bad stuff on there,” said Steve Koeneke, owner of Milwaukee advertising agency Thirsty Boy.
The biggest successes on YouTube have either offered entertainment that coincidentally tied in to a product or surprised viewers at the end by identifying the advertiser.
An example of the former is blender-maker Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” series where the host tries blending everything from an iPhone to a Chuck Norris toy. The latter approach was demonstrated by JCPenney and its “Doghouse” video that promoted Penney’s jewelry department in a humorous take on men “going to the doghouse” for buying their wives bad presents.
A growing number of southeast Wisconsin advertisers are posting their television commercials on YouTube and others are creating videos specifically to run on YouTube.
Videos of Russ Darrow Group’s TV commercials have generated fewer than 200 views each on YouTube, but owner Russ Darrow Jr. said it’s important to enter this relatively new advertising medium.
“It’s a start,” he said.
Paulo’s Pizzeria and Banquet Hall on Milwaukee’s southwest side created its own low-budget one-minute, 15-second video and posted it on YouTube after Christmas. Paul Ohalek said it’s one of the multiple avenues he’s using to promote his restaurant online and possibly generate Google searches from Milwaukee residents looking to order pizza. As of this week, the video had seven views.
An example of taking an entertainment and educational approach is Sub-Zero and Wolf, a Madison high-end appliance-maker that has attracted more than 70,000 views for its video “How to Make Perfect Pizza” in one of its ovens. The company already was producing “mini-Food Network-type segments” for its Web site and an Apple iTunes channel and jumped on YouTube when it launched in 2005, said Christopher Parr, marketing and creative director.
The attraction to YouTube is that it’s free and it offers the possibility that a video will become “viral” – that other Web sites or blogs will add or link to the videos, multiplying the number of viewers, Parr said.
“Being on YouTube is all about being social, linking and the viral component,” he said.
Risky venture
Risks to advertisers abound on YouTube as well. Viewers can comment negatively on a video and YouTube users can post their own critical videos on a company’s products, brand or service.
Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores has received positive spins for some of its commercials, including those featuring designer Vera Wang and pop star Avril Lavigne, that were posted on YouTube by adoring fans and viewed thousands of times. On the other hand, a bleach-blonde calling herself “TechnologyGoddess” posted a video on her experience shopping at a Kohl’s on Black Friday morning at 4 a.m., titled “Black Friday Part Two: Drunks in Kohls.” The video had 887 views as of this week.
“I noticed some of the people are drunk,” she says of other shoppers while in the store. “Like they think it’s a holiday party.”