Unfortunately, not everyone has the resources of a dedicated Career Services department to provide this valuable feedback. The rest of us have to rely on finding a good career coach. That is why I was so intrigued when an acquaintance of mine recently told me about 360JobInterview.com . The site has over 300 career coaches, each of whom have an extensive bio for users to review and select the perfect coach for their job search.

What I find really interesting about the service is that they use online collaboration tools to conduct career counseling sessions, right from the comfort of your own home.  A webcam and a free Skype account are all you need to get the full value of the 360-degree mock job interview.  This arrangement gives you that same high touch in-person feedback opportunity as the university students.

The site also offers other coaching services including building a strong resume and developing a customized career action plan.  The site has really taken down all of the barriers to getting a solid career coaching session by making the process simple and comfortable.  Very cool.

Now, I know many career coaches out there who are absolutely marvelous and if you are happy with your current coach then I recommend that you hang onto them.  But if you’re not already in a coaching relationship, you might want to check out the bios of the 300+ coaches on the site to see if you can find one that aligns with your needs. I’d love to hear your feedback if you have used this service, so please share!

“Advice on Potential Fraudulent LinkedIn Account??

Hi Valerie,

I have noticed an account for another [SAME NAME AS WRITER] on LinkedIn:

[LINK TO POTENTIALLY FRAUDULENT PROFILE DELETED]

and have several reasons to believe that this person is not real, which gives me concern about the potential impact to my own identity.

1) [WRITER'S NAME] is a very uncommon name.  I’ve never met another one, and in all my web searches I’ve found one other –a [PROFESSIONAL ROLE] in [ANOTHER STATE FAR AWAY].

2) “She” is apparently a [FIELD OF STUDY] student at [A COLLEGE] – the same department my husband is in yet he doesn’t know her.  Nor could he find her– or any other [WRITER'S LAST NAME]– in any [COLLEGE] directory.  As a student (apparently) since [YEAR], she should be in there.

3) “She” has only one LinkedIn connection –  my husband’s sister, who was perhaps confused by the duplicate profile.

Is there anything you can recommend??”

Needless to say, I was certainly alarmed!  What would be the point of this?  I can attest that my friend’s name is, indeed, uncommon and as long as I’ve known her, I’ve know that her husband is, in fact, a student at this particular college.  Beyond the couple of points that my friend mentioned above, there is almost no additional information about this “person” in the profile at all, other than the fact that the profile indicates this person lives in the same, basic geography as my friend.

The first thing I did was to send her the link from the help files to report the profile, which she has since done (here is the link) .  I then, kindly, queried her about the possibility of her creating this profile accidentally and not remembering that she had done it.  This was her response:

“I don’t see any way that I could have built this profile even accidentally – I never went to [THAT COLLEGE] and I am definitely not a [FIELD OF STUDY STUDENT]!”

I have to say that I am perplexed by this.  I certainly didn’t have anything like this on my mind when I wrote about having multiple LinkedIn accounts, but it does open up a large can of worms, doesn’t it?  What could be the motivation for this?  Why would someone combine her name with info (seemingly) about her husband?  I know that “coincidence” is a possiblity, but I (knowing her) have to agree with her, it is a very far-fetched possibility.  How would you handle such a thing if it happened to you?  Have you checked to see if there is a duplicate account in your name?

1. It was an accident.  They didn’t remember that they had already created a profile a long time ago so they create a new one.  If they don’t try to use the same email address, they may never know that they’ve done this!
2. The person thinks they need to setup a new profile every time they change jobs…A “starting with a clean slate” approach.
3. They can’t remember the email address/password combination they used to create the old account, so they just create a new profile.
4. They consciously are trying to separate two (or more) different parts of their life.

Here’s the problem…you are diluting your brand!

Just accept it.  You are a single human being who has a variety of skills and experiences; and you, the “brand”, encapsulate a unique combination of those skills and experiences.

Use LinkedIn to celebrate your entire package……that is the core of your personal brand!  As a former recruiter I’ve talked to many job seekers who have told me that they wish employers would see them for what they can do and not only for what they’ve done in the past.  This is your chance!

One very cool feature on LinkedIn is the “Summary” section.  This is the place where you can demonstrate to a potential employer or client exactly how the dots connect.  Use this section to answer the question “Tell me about yourself?”.   This very common interview question normally relies upon, well, getting an interview!  Using the Summary section on your profile to answer that question sets the stage for someone as they look over the rest of your profile from the perspective that you create.  AND this could happen while you are sleeping!!

I am always amazed that people just skip over this very valuable section of their profile and merely list their work history.  Think about it, if you present that you are only as good as your work history, how can you expect a potential employer to give you the opportunity to grow?

So, if you have multiple profiles, I encourage you to consider yourself a total package and to leverage that fact effectively in a single, powerful profile.

There are other problems with multiple profiles including connection dilution/confusion and group affiliations that can be problematic so this is just the first of several upcoming posts about LinkedIn profile basic best practices.  Stay tuned!

I hate bullies.  I especially hate working for – or with – bullies.  Unfortunately, 2 out of my past 4 jobs have had such a person in the picture.  In most cases that person was in strong standing with the company due to their tenure or their title.

What is the point of having bullies on the payroll?  It really doesn’t do the organization any good, yet it is so often tolerated.  I often wonder why bullies are ignored by those who can do something about it, or worse, they justify it (“ohhh…that’s just the way he/she is, but they mean well”).  In my two  work-bully experiences, this has been a real issue.  In one case, granted, it was one of several partners in the company….but I always wondered if the other partners really understood their own liability in the wake of this person’s unprofessional activities.  In the most recent case, it was just an insecure minion who had not been consulted on some restructuring plans that, in essence, knocked her down a few pegs.  She has now left the organization due to “performance”…I’m told.

I have wondered if bullies are even worse now than ever, given the current employment market and the fact that so many people are afraid of loosing their job.  I suspect that those bullies who are still on payroll have taken that as a cue that their behavior has been somehow “anointed” by management.  Is that really the message a company wants to send?

Over the past few days working with this former boss, I have been renewed.  Aside from the fact that she is just a warm and wonderful human being; she trusts my capabilities and speaks to me professionally and respectfully…in a basic, human kind of way.  And, because of that, it makes me want to give her deliverables that are perfect, easy to dissect and meaningful.  Why can’t there be more people like her in key positions?

I’ve always wondered if it takes being a bully to rise to the top of an organization.  It seems to be the case, sometimes.  Does that fact mean that there is a certain “ninja manipulation” skill set that comes with being a bully that others don’t have?  I know part of it is that the bullies are very successful in scaring other people into keeping their mouths shut.  That has never been an issue for me, but I’ve seen it many times when people are miserable, but afraid to say anything.

We’ve seen anti-bullying programs proliferate in our schools…why don’t these programs exist in the workplace?  I don’t just mean the all-encompassing “Professional Conduct Code” that can be bent and twisted to cover any behavior of even the most well-meaning employee.  I’ve seen (but, thankfully, not been the target of) bullies actually use those policies to get rid of people who stand up to them.  I’m talking about a real, TRUE “Anti-Bully” policy in the workplace.

Remember when sexual harassment policies were put into effect and everyone had to go to training?  Even in those trainings, I remember thinking that getting rid of those offensive experiences in the work place was a lost cause, but it wasn’t!  I’m not saying that sexually harassment has been completely eradicated from the workplace,  but people do think twice when speaking at work about anything that might be misconstrued.  I know a woman who goes so far as to have a personal policy not to comment on people’s lunch food!!  I believe the same long-term affect could be achieved for bullying.

Unfortunately, I think our President has a few bigger issues on his plate at the moment, so this idea would be waaay down on the list of priorities, assuming it would be considered at all.  I guess we’ll just have to make a personal policy for ourselves to only work with people who treat us with respect and leave those bullies behind, with our dignity in tact.  Some would say that leaving a job in this economy is crazy, and I’m not suggesting that kind of abrupt action be taken without a new job in-hand. But, seriously, just think of what a powerful statement it would make if you respectfully leave a company, with a full two week notice and an earnest plan to be supportive through the transition, and your reason for leaving was to go to a more respectful work environment?  THAT would be Courageous Careering.

In the month of January alone, I attended 15 networking events.  Given that the first day of the month was a holiday and that 9 days of the month were weekend days you can see I was CA-RAZY busy during the 21 business days remaining in January.  Also, during the month of January I was fortunate enough to do 3 separate presentations.  All of this led to a significant stack of follow up items from each event.

Here are the results of my recent networking efforts:

1. I had my first corporate speaking gig with a local group of distributors from the network marketing company, Visalus Sciences.  The presentation had to be customized to incorporate the website and social networking toolset that the company has provided the distributors.
2. I have done 2 presentations at a major outplacement firm which have lead to further talks about additional strategic consulting services.
3. I am working with a cutting-edge, well-positioned startup to be a content provider on a major national website.
4. I have initiated conversations with a regional recruiting firm to provide strategic consulting services.
5. I have initiated a proposal to setup a social media environment for a startup (well, actually, 2 but one is too early to count, really).
6. I have secured what I consider to be a couple of the best possible mentors I could imagine.

How’s that for magic? Pretty cool, huh?

Now, I know that the economic news is depressing to listen to, night after night after night.  So then why don’t you do yourself a favor?  Why don’t you choose to skip the news a couple of nights a week and go to some networking events instead?  I strongly believe that if you make this commitment to yourself, you will start to pull your own rabbits out of your hat.  Just try it, you’ll see.