While I’m not sure about the wording of this question, I think it’s always important to look at how your skills can help other people. (And of course know what those skills are exactly.)

Question

What are your three strongest career superpowers? I’m looking to see how reframing our strengths as superpowers actually makes career development more fun and less frustrating.

~ Karl Staib

You gotta love Flickr, man. How amazing is this photo?

My Answer

I’m actually just putting together an article on the traits employers find irresistible. I interviewed about 10 different HR consultants/employees/whatever and their 3 most interesting answers were:

1. Make OTHER people – whether interviewers or coworkers – feel important and special. Stop trying to be impressive, stop trying to make yourself feel important. Instead, spend time making the people around you feel special and it will all come back to you.

2. Use social media to highlight and/or reinvent yourself. Stop freaking out about your blog or Facebook page. Instead, use it to really market yourself as a potential employee or highlight your expertise as an important part of your industry.

3. Eye contact. Seriously. It’s that simple.

Other traits the HR managers mentioned:

• “Thank you notes can ruin everything if they are long and complicated or if you are trying to make up for your bad performance during the interview. Don’t use thank you notes to offer better answers after the interview is over.” ~ Berit Brogaard
• “Bring a 90-day plan to the initial interview. One candidate brought in a complete customized plant turnaround plan for an Operations Manager role. He got the job.” ~ Kendra Schultz

And my favorite…

• “Usually applicants are ashamed to list restaurant experience when entering the corporate world, but my best performing employees have come with a restaurant background. If you have ever waited and served the hungry general public, you can multi-task, handle stress under pressure, possess a sense of urgency, understand the importance of deadlines, possess excellent customer service skills and, most importantly, no sense of entitlement.” ~ Patty Sharkey

Gonna keep it short and sweet today, but I’ve never hired anyone. For those of you who have, what “superpowers” do find most important?

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I don’t know if you heard, because I’m not sure I bragged enough, but my handsome mug was in the June 2010 issue of Real Simple magazine. WHAT. UP.

If you want to ogle, here’s an okay quality shot of the page below:

I realize that Real Simple isn’t the magazine my target audience usually reads, but I would like to give my take on the points made at the bottom of my feature (RANDOM UPDATE: This statement is dumb, but I can’t take it out because there are comments below about it. Just note that I actually now agree that the Real Simple audience does actually overlap with mine.)

1. Be succinct. Well, yeah. You are limited to 160 characters but be catchy! I used a template provided by One Day, One Job and I think the creator, Willy Frazen did a great job. Here’s another good example of a catchy ad (and not so catchy ad). Some other tips:

• Include the name of your employer – it’s like when someone shouts your name. You automatically turn around.
• Mention something awesome you did…
• Or why that specific company is awesome.
• Obviously link to your resume and include your full name. Duh.

2. Project a professional appearance. Yes. And no. Maybe don’t have a photo of yourself taking jello shots , but those pictures that look like high school photos with cloudy backgrounds are just tacky in the real world. Be “professional”, yes, but don’t be boring.

3. Take a more conservative route if you’re looking for a job in finance, government, or education. Obama has a Twitter account, ya’ll (he’s on LinkedIn too). Now, I never said this and I’m no career expert, but REALLY? I just don’t agree. This is the part of the article I take most “offense” with. The whole damn point of social media is to put yourself out there. Everyone uses Facebook. Even people in finance, government, or education.

And it’s not “unconservative” to be on social media sties. I realize – and have mentioned before – that putting up advertisements to land a job is a little douchey. But IT WORKS. While social media may be new and many people over the age of 30 maybe blanch at the idea of tweeting, but it’s really just networking. Just not in the way people are used to. So don’t go calling a supremely awesome way to network “unconservative” or go telling the masses that certain industries don’t use it. Cuz that’s just not true.

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Off to London tomorrow so I realize this week’s LinkedIn Monday is, in fact, on a Tuesday, but whatever. Been busy.

In this week’s Q and A I’m combining a great LinkedIn question with a post I read on Brazen Careerist a week or so ago. I have very strong opinions on this subject, but please keep in mind my GPA at school SUCKED and I never did anything for the sole purpose of padding my resume…

Question

What is the best way for students to spend their summer? Traveling? Internship? Working?

~ Gavin Davis, Resume Writer

My Answer

Travel. Traveltraveltraveltravel. Seriously. Even if you work/intern/party/freelance/drink yourself into a stupor…. at least you’re traveling and that’s where the best experiences come from.

Other responses included:

• Interning
• “Do any activities that help develop their people and communication skills.” ~ Clint Cora
• At the beach. “You won’t get long vacations when you’re working.” ~ Vasco Phillip de Sousa
• Resume building
• Part time work
• Volunteering

Many responders pointed out that it depends on the person, their career goals and/or personal preferences, and I definitely agree. I vote travel because I had an amazing experience traveling and living in Europe, but a close friend of mine has zero desire to leave the States and spent his summers interning and/or goofing off. To each her own and all that.

Stop Stressing

My “strong opinions” stem from my issue with the question (not that it wasn’t a good one): Stop. Effing. Stressing. Seriously. Do whatever you want. If you think having an internship is going to help you land that dream job, by all means, do it. Are you taking that internship because you “should”? Then don’t.

I really hate this whole cram-all-pleasure-during-college-cuz-you’ll-be-miserable-in-the-real-world. Even more than that, I hate the mentality that you have to cram in all the work experience while you’re young so you can beat out all the other competition.

A recent post on the Brazen Careerist network by author Kristen Fisher talked about “getting into the real world mentality.” Fisher writes about getting started on your resume, practice interviewing and “start looking for a job – yesterday.”

While I agree it’s important to think about what you want to do while still in school to minimize stress, doing too much of that can have the exact opposite effect.

My background – cuz I know how much you care…

I went to Davidson College, a super small liberal arts school in the South with an unfortunate notoriety for being one of

Davidson College aka House of Horrors

the hardest schools in the country (without the prestige, naturally). Now, I rarely did my work unless it involved my major (Sociology/Gender Studies), which I loved, but the majority of my friends spent days in the library and one of my roommates would stay up until 4 in the morning getting work done. For what? A high GPA? A great job after school? Most of them are still unemployed or working at jobs that are “okay for now”.

I don’t know if this is because of the economy or what, but I feel like all that stress my friends put up with wasn’t really for anything worthwhile. The things I remember about college aren’t the good grades or time studying or even my classes. I remember the awesome stuff. The trips, the friends, the ridiculous stories. I went to one career center event during my 4 years there. Everything I learned about work came after graduation. So all these adults telling us to spend our last weeks at school preparing for the real world?

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

——

Random note: Every time I read blog posts that scare students about post-graduation plans, this song pops into my head:

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Spend today and tomorrow SANS RESUME. Toss out your cover letter and get crackin’ on the sites where all the cool kids hang out. Here are my favorite easy, super speedy, more-fun-than-Craigslist top 5 things to do immediately to speed up the dreaded job search progress:

1. Answer LinkedIn questions in your field of expertise. Check out my FREE VIDEO (and yeah, that needed capitalization) in the sidebar for a full tutorial on how to do that like a rock star.

2. Make a list of the top 5 blogs in your industry (not massive news sites or Gawker-esque blogs) and comment on said blogs. Email the editor or Top Blogger and tell them how much you like their site. I, for one, really like love letters. Then follow them on Twitter and retweet the post you commented on. This is a full fledged attack and shouldn’t be done with everyone, only your favorites. No one likes a fake, mmm-kay?

3. Check out your dream company on LinkedIn. Find out their recent hires and connect with them. Send them a message asking how they got that job and advice on the best way to get your resume seen. Also find out your dream job title at that company and do the same. Note: Don’t be spammy about it. Don’t ask them to pass along your resume or take up too much of their time. Just be personable and say you’d really appreciate one tip or experience.

4. Research the major Twitter hashtags for your industry and follow them. Contribute to the conversation.

5. Join the Facebook groups (or fan pages, or whatever they are now) for your favorite companies. Post on their wall, and contribute to the conversation. I’d prefer to not use the word “engage,” so don’t make me, but you get the point. If you have a blog, share a relevant post with the community.

Yeah. Maybe don't do this.

That’s it! Have fun and report your progress in the comments. I love to see how you guys are doing :)

P.S. Want more? Sign up to get into on the Pajama Job Hunt, my new course that will kick your college career counselor’s ass. Click here for the awesomeness.

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I‘ve been spending a lot of time on LinkedIn Q and A recently and it’s grown on me enormously (sign up in the sidebar to watch my video on how to maximize this goldmine). Most of the questions I see are kind of silly and can honestly just be Googled, but some of them are really excellent questions. For those of you who don’t really use LinkedIn, you totally should. I understand it’s just another thing to add to your plate though, so each week I’ve decided to take my favorite question and publish it here with my answer.

So to kick off what will hopefully be a weekly session, here we go:

Question: Is it appropriate to contact strangers on LinkedIn, who are in the field you are interested in to receive relevant business information?

I am a student at the University of Northern Colorado and will be graduating soon. I’m unsure which area of marketing I would like to go into and I am seeking more information in different fields of Marketing.

~ Lisa Drew, Sales Operations at Best Buy

Answer: Yes – absolutely yes! Maybe don’t go writing to every single person in HR for every single company, because that’s spammy and desperate. But going groups and answering questions and finding entry level employees at the companies you want to work for and connecting with them – that’s the WHOLE POINT of LinkedIn (and that’s why I totally love it).

The best way to used LinkedIn as a way to find jobs is not to contact random people, but those at companies you want to work for. Looking for an entry-level job at Dell? Go to Dell’s company profile and check out new hires and other people in entry-level positions. Connect with them and in the message portion explain (nicely and honestly) that you’ve always wanted to work for Dell and would love to hear about how they got their job. People usually like to help and giving advice is a nice way to do that. The worst they can do is not respond!

Another great (and less awkward) way to get in touch with people on LinkedIn is to connect after meeting them in person. Send them an email saying it was nice to meet them and if they ever hear of a job that’s up your alley to let you know. If you’re interested in marketing, join all the relevant marketing groups and ask questions. More importantly, ANSWER questions. Become an “expert” and flaunt it!

Finally, use LinkedIn is when you’re writing cover letters. A lot of times when you call HR to ask for the name of the hiring manager companies don’t like to give it. But you can find out names by doing a little sleuthing on LinkedIn. Some people don’t like being contacted for this reason, so just do it to find out their name and not email them directly. The point is to have a personalized cover letter, not to harass the nice HR people online.  LinkedIn is great for that :)

**Have any job hunting or social media/blogging/funsies questions you want answered? Send me an email at maschembari (at) gmail (dot) com

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I have some seriously exciting news my dear friends! As you can tell from the ridiculously spazzy headline, I am officially announcing the launch of the GREATEST job hunting tool on the planet. What is the tool you ask? Um. Yeah. That would be me. And social media. Together.

Hells to the yeah my friends.

What’s in store for you:

• Four 60-minute video tutorials with step-by-step instructions on how to use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogs to connect with people in your industry and land the perfect job.
• A fabulous and interactive Facebook group for members who can share their stories as they navigate the job hunt world and all its perils.
• The top tips and tricks for being seen as an expert in your field.
• How to connect with thousands of people in days
• The best job hunting tricks on the planet
• Questions you forgot to ask your career counselor
• Ballsy answers to obnoxious interview questions
• 4 traits employers find irresistible
• And the biggest social media mistakes Gen Y is making (and no, it’s not something boring like putting up drunk pictures on Facebook. God people, give me some credit here!)

Okay. Before you pee your pants, it hasn’t launched yet. The first video should be available in the next couple week so keep your eyes peeled.

Bad memory? Sign up to be notified here.

____

Final piece of business: Want to be my favorite person on the planet? If you could retweet this, post it on Facebook, email someone and/or generally spread the word, I would greatly appreciate it. I can’t tell you how stoked I am to launch this program and I know the need is there :)

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Last week I was quoted in TIME Magazine’s article, “Working For Free” by Eve Tahmincioglu and I wanted to share some thoughts on this new intern/free labor drama. Here’s a snippet:

Will labor activists in the U.S. ever get the intern genie back in the bottle? Not if enough people keep volunteering to work for free. Marian Schembari quit her unpaid internship at a Web-based publisher in New York City after three months of living with her parents. The 22-year-old, who graduated from college last year, reached the point where she felt that working 40-hour weeks for no pay was “degrading.” But Schembari, who is now freelancing, still thinks she got something valuable out of the internship. “I was able to write for a website with a decent readership, and I built up my clips,” she says. “My bosses were nice. They just couldn’t afford to pay. But in hindsight, that really shouldn’t be my problem.”

I’m definitely not a fan of the internship, mostly because unless your bosses are superbly awesome and let you do cool things other than getting coffee, internships are essentially assistant positions masquerading as “learning experiences”. The real difference is that assistants get paid.

Along with being quoted in TIME (which was SWEET), I wrote an Internship Series a few months ago about why you shouldn’t take one, why people take them anyway and what you can do instead of taking one. I can reiterate all the reasons why I hate internships, but I want to make an important point and distinction: sometimes, when we’re just starting out , doing work for free helps us get noticed, get that foot in the door and ultimately get more business.

Care for some elaboration? No problem.

Five important reasons you should work for free:

1. Exposure. It’s like building up writing clips. In order to snag that awesome article/story/book/whatever, you

This isn't me. But it's still funny.

usually need to already have something published. Which is that lovely Catch-22 of the Freelance Writer. To get those clips, most people start off writing for some ridiculously small amount of money. I don’t agree with this because talent is talent, but I understand that writing a few things for free now can make it easier to write what you want later.

2. Contacts. My dear friend and mentor, Michael Ellsberg, is an author, consultant, business guru and all around nice guy. He contacted me months ago and told me I should forget about getting a “real” job and start working for myself. Michael sends me long emails with 100% fabulous advice, meets with me and spoon feeds me freelance tips and hooks me up with Important People. All out of the goodness of his heart. Or not. You see, Michael knows that I know people that he doesn’t know. Michael knows I’m ridiculously awesome. And because Michael’s smart, he knows that by helping me – for free – he will get an insane return on his investment. Read his most recent blog post here – he talks about building a tribe and articulates it way better than I ever could.

3. Experience. Just starting out? Don’t have referrals or a thick portfolio? Picking a project or two can help build that portfolio (see #1) and give you the experience that will make you feel more comfortable with certain tasks. The learning process is also a great thing to look back on and use later. Half of my blog posts (which can be considered a form of free labor) come from questions people email me or some form of “wisdom” I learn along the way.

4. Making decisions. Working for free can help you decide whether or not a certain career path is right for you. Rather than just taking a job and hoping for the best, a temporarily free project can steer you in the right direction.

5. Spreading the word. “Free” may usually refer to the actual cost of something, but money doesn’t necessarily have to be a factor. In this economy a lot of people are simply unable to pay for services, which is why interns are  exploited now more than ever. But if you “charge” someone by getting them to pass on your name to potential – and paying – clients or simply asking for a glowing recommendation, it might be easier to snag that job since your employer feels they can given something back. Some people – good people – usually hesitate to take someone’s work for nothing. It’s uncomfortable. Take a contest. Say you run a Twitter contest where you have to enter by retweeting something or another. This brings priceless visibility to the company/brand and they’re paying for that visibility (via the giveaway).

NOTE: I don’t think you should do a job for free – meaning, going into an office every day and putting in that amount of time without getting paid is insane (and questionably illegal). But a project here and there, volunteering your time for a person or cause worth that time and helping out someone who may some day return the favor? Totally worth it.

Related posts:

• Internship Series part 1: Why you shouldn’t take an internship
• Internship Series part 2: The Cool Factor

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Part of my charm and sparkling personality is, well, my lack thereof. Lately, I’ve decided to eff it and just be myself – this is a piece of what they like to call my “personal brand.”

During my job hunt I found that following the rules got me nowhere. The blog posts that get the most hits and comments are the ones where I spew my opinions like a vomiting frat boy at a kegger. The jobs I’ve gotten recently haven’t involved suits or resumes or professionalism. I pride myself in that ability to collect business left and right without “playing the game.”

But am I biting myself in the ass? Is my complete lack of professionalism actually bad manners?

Personal Branding 101

Earlier this month I wrote a guest post on Ryan Rancatore’s blog: Personal Branding 101. Here’s a little snippet:

Sometimes one person’s definition of “unprofessional” is another’s idea of innovation and cleverness and fun. So keep that in mind whenever you worry about censoring yourself.

Example: Today I met a woman who has the word “shit” on her business card (my kind of girl!). She also gets around 100 comments per blog post and has over 20,000 followers on Twitter.

Be yourself people, and while everyone else takes that cliche and proceeds to be what they think everyone else wants them to be, how about you actually be yourself – warts and all – and watch your personal brand take a new, exciting and more successful shape.

I had a lot of fun writing that post, especially when I later found it inspired quite a bit of discussion. One commenter wrote: “Your speech should be a reflection of your intelligence and education. The ability to articulate and communicate effectively with others is hindered by profanity and use of slang, especially others belonging to another generation.”

Eh. I’d like to think my language is colorful. Colorful = not boring. I also 100% disagree with said commenter; her views are outdated and a little prejudiced given that everyone’s education (and therefore speech)  is different. Intelligence also does not necessarily equal education. That aside, I can’t ignore the fact that many people feel this way, and there are many jobs/clients I wont land because of how I “talk” on my blog and my general unprofessionalism.

But what the hell does that mean?

What I’m struggling with right now is the definition of professionalism. I’m not going to go running around insulting people, but I’m also not going to censor myself. I think my honesty and lack of bull shit is something I have going for me, but potential (high-end) clients might not see it that way. Should I change the way I act for the sake of professionalism? Or should I continue my distinctive – but authentic -  personal brand, hoping there are enough awesome clients out there who like that part of me and can keep me in Ramen and shoes?

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I’m in love. “Unconditionally and irrevocably.” With a potential job.

As I write this I’m in my pajamas working from home – as per usual. I love what I do. I love working for myself… But damn.

Here’s the story:

This past month has been a little rocky. I left my part-time day job to devote myself 100% to freelancing. I was at that point where I was getting enough business that I could afford to work for myself, but not enough to live “comfortably.” But I did it anyway and took that leap.

Then I found out that I need to leave my current living situation, resulting in the first time ever in the history of the world where the love of my life (aka my roommate, Desi) and I will no longer be living together. This is depressing in and of itself. But add to that moving costs, finding another apartment (which will most likely be significantly less awesome than where I am now) and the fact that I couldn’t find a cosigner for my culinary school loan, and my dreams have been all but tabled.

Basically I was a teeny tiny upset.

However…

Then I wake up this morning and it’s 55 degrees and the sun is shining and not only do I have a seriously awesome apartment lead (it’s a sublet and there’s a piano) but the first thing I see on Craigslist is an ad for this job… at… wait for it… THE INSTITUTE OF CULINARY EDUCATION:

The Public Relations Associate position is a full-time position, reporting to the company’s Director of Sales & Marketing. The ideal candidate is eager to burst onto the Public Relations and food-scene. The candidate should be immersed in or passionately interested in the world of food, cooking, chefs, and restaurants – and appreciate the value of education.

By the Hammer of Thor!

I’m not even kidding you. This job exists. And it was literally hand crafted for me, I’m sure of it.

My Application

I’ve been spending all day working on an incredibly personal email to the Director of Sales and Marketing, crafting a bad ass cover letter, touching up my long neglected resume, tweeting about it, finding every possible spec of information on ICE’s online presence, writing this blog post as a supplement to my application AND creating a marketing plan. Too much? Honestly, I could care less right now.

Here’s a fun little excerpt from my email to the press office: “I’ve attached a more ‘traditional’ cover letter outlining my accomplishments and qualifications based on exactly what you’re looking for, but I just wanted this email to be a little more personal, a little more passionate than your stereotypical job application. And in case you want to see some of my ideas in action, I’ve attached a short proposal on how ICE can continue to grow in the media….

We can have videos on DICED of students preparing certain recipes and asking questions, interviews with chef instructors, book giveaways, contests/coupons on the Facebook fan page, tweets with special tips and sneak peeks for followers… the opportunities online are endless, fun and beyond exciting!”

Think I have a shot? Everyone keep their fingers crossed and if you know anyone at ICE, pass my info along, will ya?

Will keep you posted!

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The Facebook ads I posted back in July resulted in a little bit of press, mostly due to the awesome Debbie Stier of HarperStudio, but also because I’m absurdly cool. Some of that press wasn’t so positive, and since another pretty negative blog post cropped up recently I want to address some of the factors other bloggers have mentioned.

Facebook ads can’t replace traditional networking.

Traditional networking is dead. Give me one person who likes to stand around awkwardly in a room full of strangers cradling the ubiquitous “classy” plastic cup and I’ll give you 1,000 who’d rather break a kneecap.

I wouldn’t consider myself a shy person, but in groups of people I pretend I have a super important call and usually stand on the sidelines until some nice person decides they feel horribly bad for me and make some form of small talk for 5 minutes until they realize I’m incredibly boring. But give me one person. Give me a blog friend or the president of a major publishing house and I can schmooze with the rest of them. I like one-on-one, but it’s hard to find that one person unless you “know a guy” (insert heavy NYC-Italian accent here) or successfully attended one of these networking events.

Social media (including, but not limited to, Facebook ads) puts you in touch with hundreds of people you might never have had the balls to approach otherwise. Social media has the ability to foster some incredibly important – and mutually beneficial – relationships. People need to stop freaking out about how the internet makes things “less personal” just because many interactions are no longer face-to-face. I have developed more personal and wonderful and important relationships in the past 6 months than I ever did doing things the “traditional” way. And I’m positive my fellow tech-savvy, social-media-at-the-ready, scared-of-groups comrades would agree.

Ads make you look desperate.

You know what? The economy sucks and it’s harder than ever to get a job, so if you’re unemployed, you’re most likely desperate. Not to mention the fact that sending out generic cover letters and cold calling is a rude and impersonal act of desperation.

Cecelia Martinez over at Dcecelia.com, Joe Grimm of Poynter Online and Caitlin McDevitt on The Big Money wrote that the ads are creepy and gimmicky. Gimmicky? Maybe. But you have to back the ads up with substance, you can’t just sit back and wait for jobs to come to you. When I think of a “gimmick” I think misrepresentation. Devious. As for creepy? Bite me. Honestly, you don’t want people targeting you on Facebook because of where you work, your age or what your interests are, don’t post them. It’s that simple.

It doesn’t work.

Let’s check out two quotes:

“But did Facebook help Schembari land her dream job? Not sure.” ~ Rachel Kaufman, Media Jobs Daily

“There hasn’t been word that any one of these ads has helped these job seekers gain anything more than a little bit of publicity on employment blogs.” ~ Cecelia Martinez, Dcecelia.com

Here’s where I brag: First of all, um, I got a job, and I’ve already bitched about Kaufman’s definition of a “dream job.” Secondly, check out my press page again. Do it. Do it now. About three of those articles came about without any help from me. Any other press I received I got through contacting journalists through HARO, finding like-minded people on Twitter and through my freelance work at Digital Book World.

Like I said earlier, you can’t just put up an ad (something that takes balls but basically zero skill, time or money) and expect shit to happen.

To summarize, here’s a snippet of my comment on Dcecelia’s blog:

[The ads] just help get your name out there, which can often be the hardest part. Applying through job boards is a supreme waste of time and ultimately, while I did leave the job I got through the ads, there were a variety of reasons behind that decision, one of which was that I’ve been getting so much freelance work I don’t need a 9 to 5.

To be honest, if you’re looking for a traditional job through a traditional company, the ads may be a waste of time and money. That’s the first mistake. But if people think you’re “innovative” (a word that makes HR managers cry like 12-year-old girls) it doesn’t really matter if the ads reek of desperation. I know so many more people because of these ads and am now able to keep those connections, get freelance work, do said work from home, make more money, not have a boss AND go to culinary school. So total lameness aside, I would call the ads a complete success.

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