“When I have the time…”  These words are often spoken wistfully by employees attempting to balance a busy work, family and social life. For displaced workers, it can be disorienting to transition from a schedule jam-packed with meetings, appointments and clients to an unplanned existence of job searches and networking events. Finding a job requires work and creativity. We’ve all heard the old adage, “treat finding a job like it is a job,” but few job seekers develop their job search the way they’ve cultivated their professions.

Don’t rely solely on the Internet

Too often our perception of what a well-rounded job search is begins and ends with the Internet. It’s counter-intuitive that a tool that has brought so much efficiency to our lives can also be the proverbial anchor around the neck of the unemployed. However, think of how many people are currently unemployed. Where do you think most people are looking for jobs? If you are one of thousands of people searching the web for job opportunities, how will you stand out from the rest of the crowd?

To truly capitalize and shorten your time between jobs, get away from the computer. Perusing employment sites can be a part of your job search strategy, but it cannot be the entirety of your job search strategy. Remember that only a fraction of positions are ever advertised. While you’re surfing the Internet, pushing your resume out to every position that’s posted, opportunities might be passing you by. You have to get away from the computer to tap into the jobs that never get advertised online.

Keep your skills fresh

Do you know what potential employers are afraid of when they see an application from a candidate who has been out of work for an extended period of time? They are usually afraid that candidate’s skill set has gone stale. People don’t want to hire someone that they feel has too much catching up to do to be a viable member of the team. Avoid letting your skills go out of date by pursuing volunteer opportunities in your career field or in a field you have been considering transitioning into.

Search sites like volunteermatch.org to find non-profits who need professionals with your qualifications.  Instead of offering to serve food at the local soup kitchen, find out if they need help with accounting, fundraising or project management. You will be able to keep your skills fresh, enhance your resume and may even find some great networking opportunities. Volunteer experience is still experience, and it’s better than sitting in your pajamas all day.

Network, network, network

In addition to keeping your skills current, use your time in between jobs to join professional groups and keep your network current. Networking workshops and events can be found in your local newspaper or business journal. You might be surprised at how many groups are available. Contacts are vital for employment opportunities, so work these events with your long-term future in mind.

Seek out any training that would be marketable to employers in the future, keeping in mind that businesses are looking for employees with more diverse skills than ever. Classes and other training programs can help introduce you to new people in your field. Use these people to find out about job openings.

Time between jobs can be daunting, but it can also be productive. Sitting around and complaining about the job market isn’t going to help. Using this time to grow your skills, strengthen your network and clarify your long-term goals can be time well-spent.

Look at an Amazon search for MySpace books. People invested hundreds (if not thousands) of hours into books chasing that tool. And thousands bought them to try to find the answers to their questions about MySpace. They were using tool specific manuals (some of them written as little as two years ago) and now they’re worthless. I take that back. Once winter hits, you can use the pages to help start a nice fire. That’s worth something, right?

Then there is this idea of good enough. It’s the idea that you can build something that is, let’s say, 80-90% there and launch it. After that, you can slowly change or improve it or you can divest yourself eventually without investing a ton of resources in something that may or may not work. In programming, it is a fairly common practice because the good enough features might take 200 hours to program while the one’s that get that last 10-20% might take another 1,000+ hours.

Whenever I’ve taught about specific tools, I’ve always taken a good enough approach to learn them. Twitter is something that I figure I’m good enough on and most people can be good enough on too. Post regularly, share new things that are interesting, retweet things that are interesting, respond to and converse with people, don’t spam and follow those who interest you. That’s probably 90% of the real value of Twitter right there.

Can I tell you when the best time to tweet is? Can I tell you what the best tool is for using Twitter? Can I tell you the top subjects that get retweeted? No.

And why should I? You should tweet when you have something interesting to say, share or converse about. You should try different tools and find out what you like or dislike. You should tweet about things you like, even if only a couple dozen people actually care. That’s a hundred different things to a hundred different people.

Here’s the real question: what skills will actually stand the test of time? Where are you investing that time?

I spend more time reading and writing long form text than I do consuming and writing social media content. My hope is that I’ll continue to be prepared for what comes next because it will still likely involve written communication (and it still makes me better in how I communicate 140 characters at a time).

Certainly, there will be people who chase those fluid aspects of life and try to become an expert in them (if even for a fleeting moment). I knew a guy who made a bundle designing custom MySpace designs. He chased every last dollar out the door and at the end of the day, he ended up getting another job just like the one he quit years ago.

Even if you decide to chase the next Google Wave book, that doesn’t make you exempt from the fact that you have to develop skills that last much, much longer. Can you leverage that social media book into more writing opportunities? Can you develop skills that will move needle elsewhere? Can it propel you to learn more about what’s coming next or for an exit into a different field?

Good enough is all about intent. It is about how you choose to spend time and what skills and goals you choose to pursue. There is no shame in being good enough in many areas of life. The more important consideration is asking yourself what you do want to develop and become better than good enough.

I need your help today.

I start this post by saying that Steve Boese has no idea I’m writing this.  If he did, he may try to dissuade me.  That said, I have far too much respect for him not to share this.  You see, my friend Steve is going through what many of us have experienced at some point in the last few years….a layoff.  And while not completely unexpected, he certainly didn’t think his company was going to lay off a group of leaders last Thursday.

To tell you the most important thing about Steve is to share that he has strong character and is the kind of guy that gets the job done. He received this devastating news just one day before HRevolution.  He could have decided not to come.  But he didn’t.  He held his head high and came to the event that he co-creates and spent time around the very group of people from our industry who “get” what he does. To quote the leaders in the HR Technology space:

“Steve, at the HR Technology Conference, we always cared about your “day job” because you are expert in running HR systems, especially from Oracle. Plus teaching others about it. Combine that with your social experience and media knowledge, and you’re one special guy.  We look forward to your being a panelist at this year’s event in Vegas, in addition to hosting an HRevolution session with Trish on our own program, after doing the full-tilt boogie HRevolution in our hotel on the Sunday afternoon before our opening reception.  In short, you are a Renaissance Man in my world.” Bill Kutik

“I’m confident that your next best opportunity will find you.” Naomi Bloom

Here’s what you need to know about Steve:

• He has over 15 years experience implementing enterprise technologies for Human Resources, Recruiting, Finance and Distribution, including significant experience with Oracle E-business Suite Applications in numerous industries and locations. He’s served in a wide range of roles from team member, to team lead, to Project Manager.
• Steve is an award winning Human Resources blogger, speaker, and host of the weekly HR Happy Hour radio show, a live call in show about HR, Talent Management, Recruiting and technology now entering its third full year.
• Steve worked as a Applications Consultant for Oracle Corporation and has also owned a consulting company.
• He is an Adjunct Instructor at RIT, teaching a Graduate course in Human Resources Technology.
• Steve spends his free time as co-founder of the HRevolution event.  This is a progressive learning event for HR and business professionals that focuses on discussions around HR issues, technology, and media.  HRevolution is in it’s third year and Steve is one of the organizers of the event each year.

What We Can DO to help:

Each person who reads this blog has business contacts.  I ask you to think today of at least one person you can put Steve in contact with, one person you can pass his information to, one suggestion you can make to help Steve in his search.  One of the most important reasons to build our network is that when we’re in need, our community can circle the wagons.   Let’s do our part to help Steve today. His contact information is below.

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/steveboese

Phone (585) 317-7492

Twitter - @SteveBoese

Originally posted on Trish McFarlane’s HR Ringleader blog

In the spring of 2006, Greg Oden was preparing to enter Ohio State as one of the top prep prospects in the country. Do you think he had a five year plan? You know, the one HR people ask about in an interview? If he did, I don’t think it would be a stretch if it went something like this:

1. Become one of the top college basketball players
2. Take his team to the national championship
3. Get chosen first in the NBA draft
4. Go to a team with championship contention possibilities
5. Win a championship ring as a key player for the team

That’s a pretty good plan. And in the first year of it, he took a big chunk out of the list. He became a top college basketball player, took his team to the championship game, got chosen first in the 2007 NBA draft and went to a team with a core of players that could go all the way in a few years.

In September of 2007, his plan got derailed. He had to have microfracture surgery on his knee. He was out for the season. And over the next three seasons, he would miss significant playing time and have two more surgeries on his legs. The last time I saw him play was in December of 2009 when he was carried off in a stretcher.

The point isn’t that life comes at you fast and that changes are going to come. You already knew that. In fact, you probably think five year plans are as unrealistic as I do.

The real point is that many people think Oden is a failure because he hasn’t met this plan. I may be the only person who is optimistic about what he does in the future. Getting back into basketball is a possibility near term but even more so, doing something different with his life is a certainty at some point. And that’s exciting for me and it should be for Oden. It is something he hopefully has more control of than the durability of his knees.

When I lost my job in HR and took a job outside of being an HR professional for the first time, I thought I had taken a step back. I was nervous. You can ask the people I asked for advice. I had progressed with my plan up to that point, looking to take an even bigger leap into the next great HR role. Then, I discovered something else I liked, outside of HR.

Yes, it is difficult to describe how I got here.

Yes, it is difficult to say I didn’t accomplish what I wanted in my HR career.

Yes, I haven’t exactly thought through what’s next.

And you know what? That’s fine. I really like where I’m at right now. I (mostly) wake up inspired and ready to take on the day. That linear career path we always hear about? The one we use to plan our next five years? Bupkis. Find things about your career you enjoy and do them. And if you can’t do that, do things with the rest of your life that you enjoy and do that.

Out of high school, my Dad and I marched down to the recruitment office and we signed up together. Six months later, I was a certified United States Marine and for the first time – my dad shook my hand. That was one of the most important moments in my life – up there with my wedding day and the birth of my beautiful daughter.

Once I entered the fleet, I advanced fairly quickly. Having a drill instructor for a father, I had practically been training for it my whole life. After eight years, I had reached the rank of gunnery sergeant and I returned from my third tour of duty. My second term of service was coming to a close and now I had a wife and an adorable 5-year-old daughter. I came to the decision (with a little urging from the ladies in my life) not to reenlist.

It’s difficult for a somebody without some sort of military history to understand the culture shock that comes with adjusting back to civilian life. It had been 8 years since I had tried a new haircut. I was 26 years old and my only job experience was in military communications and a paper route from my early teen years. I became quickly overwhelmed and discouraged because I was struggling with finding a direction to go in with my career. What would my drill instructor say?

• Rule #1 – Applying for jobs is like going on patrol. It may be repetitive, boring and often uneventful – but it is extremely important! When you least expect it, the time to take action will pass you by. If you get side-tracked, discouraged or lackadaisical, you’ll miss your opportunity strike.
• Rule #2 – Keep up your morale. When you get discouraged or frustrated take a step back, stop thinking about how much job hunting sucks and take a little recreational time to get your spirits up. Nobody wants to hire a Debbie-downer!
• Rule #2.5 – Don’t go A.W.O.L.! Keep in mind that every moment you’re not hitting the pavement, other people are out getting jobs.
• Rule #3 – Do your reconnaissance. The more you know, the better you’ll do. Having a good amount of knowledge about the company you’re applying for can help you buffer your resume and also looks really good in an interview.
• Rule #4 – Never ever run out of ammo! When you’re hitting the city for jobs, bring extra resumes, more than you think you’ll need. If you’re forced to retreat because you run out of resumes, you miss out on job hunting time and potential employment opportunities.
• Rule #5 – Watch out for the ambush! You may find job opportunities in unexpected places, don’t miss them. Practice interviewing so you’ll be ready for one on a moment’s notice.

Before I knew it, I landed a job as a marketing manager in an emerging business. The job was a piece of cake. As a long-time NCO in the military (remember, that counts as management experience on a resume!), I held command above some of the most difficult people on the planet. With a trained staff of civilians under my command, I was in a position to really help that company fly, and fly it did. To this day, my military training helps me stand head and shoulders above the competition in the corporate world and I hope my brothers and sisters in arms find this article well and that it helps them thrive after enlistment.

John Durfee works for Airsplat, the largest retail dealer of Airsoft Guns and Airsoft Green Gas. John is an Operation Freedom War veteran.

I have to disagree. You do still need a resume. And LinkedIn is not it. Yes, you can use your LinkedIn profile as an alternative place to store data regarding your education and employment history. But if LinkedIn is replacing the old-fashioned paper resume, then I have to tell you that you’d be better off sticking to tradition – or at least your own website where you can show some creativity.

Keep in mind that I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t include, in your LinkedIn profile, all the information that you ordinarily list on your resume. But your resume is only a starting point. The power of LinkedIn is that it gives you a chance to do more – to personalize your background . LinkedIn offers you an opportunity to let members of your network, as well as potential future employers and colleagues, glimpse your unique interests – in a forum that appears completely professional. I can’t think of any other method you can use to accomplish that, unless you hand out resumes with links to your personal website listed which may run certain risks that LinkedIn does not expose you to such as accidentally making comments on your personal website that might be regarded as politically incorrect in your particular industry, or posting photos or other content that would be regarded as unprofessional or inappropriate.

LinkedIn gives you a chance to let your hair down – but not too much. Think of it as the “casual Friday” of work-related networking sites. It does give you a chance to slip in small, fascinating tidbits of information about yourself – information that you can appear to be presenting without presenting it, just in passing.

Think about those aspects of your own personal history and background that make you interesting and/or make you the best person to fit into a particular niche. Think, as well, about areas of your industry that you want to move into, but in which you have no formal background. Can your LinkedIn profile be used to make you seem more interesting or qualified in certain areas? The answer is absolutely, yes.

Do you want the people in your network to notice that you are educating yourself about a particular topic? You could use LinkedIn’s Amazon Reading List application to mention a book you are currently reading on the topic – and to offer a nutshell review. Or you could use the Questions and Answers section of LinkedIn, asking a question to indicate your interest in a topic, or answering one to show your knowledge of it or simply to show off your knowledge. If you wish, you can connect your LinkedIn profile to your Twitter account, post a link to a personal or business website, or use one of LinkedIn’s presentation or portfolio tools to show your more creative work.

Finally, it seems obvious, but many people do not ask their LinkedIn contacts to recommend them. I find that the quick, personal, “in a nutshell” nature of LinkedIn recommendations makes LinkedIn really shine as a networking resource. Once you have several recommendations, someone who is interested in your work can quickly get a sense of your personality and what it is like to work with you. That kind of information increases the likelihood that you will manage to find a group or organization to work with that is truly a good fit for you personally. Likewise, you should write short LinkedIn recommendations for others in your network – seeing who you have worked with and what you thought of the experience gives people who view your profile yet another piece of information that they literally cannot find out about you from any other resource.

Don’t throw away your resume, please. No, LinkedIn is NOT your Internet resume, but if you give it a chance, it can be much more. Using LinkedIn merely as your Internet resume is like using your cell phone only to make phone calls – or like using your computer only to check email. You could be using it to do so much more.

Brendan Cruickshank (Vice President of Client Services) – Brendan is a veteran of the online job search and recruiting industry, having spent the past 8 years in senior client services roles with major sites like Juju.com and JobsInTheMoney.com. He is quoted regularly as an expert in employment and jobs trends in major media outlets like the Washington Post, US News & World Report, and Forbes and has spoken at recruiting industry events such as Onrec and Kennedy Information’s Corporate Recruiting Conference.

He has had a broad career in HR and his early involvement in social media has led him to be an influencing voice in our community. But let’s start at the beginning.

Getting Started in HR

Jorgensen wasn’t always in HR. In between his undergraduate and masters degree, he did all kinds of work. “I spent time in retail management, not-for-profit management (including fund raising, event management and PR), insurance investigator, various factory gigs and a stint as a miner, certified by MSHA and everything,” he said. But a chance encounter with the head of HR at the University of Iowa business school led him to learn more about the field.

After graduation he spent more than two decades working (often the lead HR person) for medium sized manufacturing firms. If you want to talk about HR in the trenches, this is it. Working with a blue collar workforce can be great and being part of a great manufactured product has some intrinsic rewards but it is also challenging HR work.

In my brief conversations with him, it is obvious how much this experience has influenced his view of HR. He’s always seeking realistic solutions to real workplace issues. Grounding people like myself who say, want to eliminate formal performance reviews, is a useful function even if I don’t think so.

Consulting, Educating and Volunteering (Not Always in That Order)

For the last couple of years, Jorgensen has been focused on independent HR consulting. “While I enjoy some aspects of it, I have discovered that I really miss the day-to-day interaction that being in an organization brings so I am planning my next career move,” he said. And it may be a good time to be on the move as I’ve seen quite a few people making that change recently.

He has also worked at both DePaul University and Northern Illinois University primarily as an instructor for HRCI certification. Now you may have a certain opinion of HR certifications but Jorgensen invests in his students and the education there. While I can’t respect that I’ve known more than a handful of people who have crammed a couple of days before their exam and passed, I can respect those who make the honest educational effort and pass certification the way he teaches.

He has also been a state leader for the Illinois State Council of SHRM. “One of the things I have tried to do in my tenure is to have the State Council begin to look at serving members and chapters in new ways,” he said. “We have expanded our state leadership conference to include new items such as strategic planning and communications.” He also points to the state conference Illinois puts on every year where he is keeping up with trends of much larger conferences in impressive fashion.

Passion and Social Media

Jorgensen has a true passion for the profession and it shows. “[HR] can be a great force in the organization by contributing to strategic planning, silo busting, inter-departmental communication, and leadership development,” he told me. “It can have direct effect on the employee through engagement, motivation, career and job development.”

That passion shows through on his blog HR Tailgate where he talked about workplace safety recently. That subject in particular was always hard to get excited about but he offers a reality check that there are real human lives at stake in the decisions we make.

He also has a fantastic Twitter account and is one of the most conversation focused folks out there. If you send him a message, he’ll typically respond back (unless you razz him about Arizona beating Iowa this year, just a word of warning).

The HR Stars Series is sponsored by Rypple, social software that makes feedback easy and fun. Our software is built around people, not process, which means teams actually get things done. Managers don’t waste time. People get the useful feedback that they want. Teams stay on track, learn and adapt faster, and get recognized for great work. Learn more at http://rypple.com.

Go for happy and average over frustrated and great

Enthusiasm. It’s one attribute you just can’t fake. When it comes time to hire, don’t think you need a guru or a tech-celebrity. Often, they’re just primadonnas anyway. A happy yet average employee is better than a disgruntled expert.

But can it get me a job?

So, can enthusiasm get you hired? Whether you’re a public speaker, recruiter, or garbage collector, it can certainly help.

All else equal, a smile and a positive attitude can work wonders. Some people call it “likeability,” and it’s powerful stuff. According to an article by USA Today, a study done by the Harvard Business Review found that people don’t want to work with someone who is disliked (gasp!), and coworkers are willing to tolerate a very low skill set in exchange for a high likeability factor.

I talk about it often, but companies should hire for attitude. It’s relatively straightforward to teach someone how to build a widget or manage a process. It’s much different to try to teach someone to be energetic, friendly, and likeable.

Devil’s advocate

On the other hand, an enthusiastic dolt with mush for brains isn’t very valuable. You need to look for people who have a track record of learning and growing into new responsibilities. That can help narrow the list to those who are not only willing, but able as well.

Don’t dismiss the importance of being enthusiastic and likeable. I’d like to close out with a final quote from Getting Real:

Find someone who’s enthusiastic. Someone you can trust to get things done when left alone. Someone who’s suffered at a bigger, slower company and longs for a new environment. Someone who’s excited to build what you’re building. Someone who hates the same things you hate. Someone who’s thrilled to climb aboard your train.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

How much importance does enthusiasm and likeability play in your interviewing process? Do you think you possess the likeability factor? Why or why not?

Ben Eubanks is a blogger and HR professional from Huntsville, Alabama, and enthusiasm was one of the key factors in every job he’s ever been hired for. He is the cofounder of HRevolution, author of an HR blog, and a new dad to some amazing twin girls.

When I was in my early 20’s I learned an important lesson. I was working in a start-up company and had gone 3 years without a raise.

Learning the wrong way

So I went to the CEO and asked for a raise. He asked why.

Among other things, I said that I had been working for 3 years without a raise, and that I had taken on more and more responsibility over that time, and that I always delivered and often exceeded expectations. I told him it was becoming un-motivating to feel I was working so hard and not moving forward in pay, and peers in other companies were making more money than I was…

He said he didn’t care. It wasn’t his problem. He only cared about what the cost was to replace me, and he could replace me for my salary or less – so no raise.

Your job is a contract with your company. You don’t get a raise for good attendance, or because you feel like you deserve one. You earn a raise by increasing the value of your contribution.

And if you want to get that raise, you need to re-negotiate your contract on terms that are relevant and valuable to your company, not based on what you want or need. And you have to ask.

1. YOU Drive the process

Know that you are at a disadvantage by not having this conversation.

It is vitally important that you and your boss share a common view of your performance and your expectations for promotion and compensation, even if your boss does not drive this discussion. Of the 20-something years I worked in a corporation for a boss, I did my own performance review 17 times, just to make sure that there were never any disconnects.

2. Understand how you and your role are perceived

It is important to know if you are perceived as a high, average or low performer. Don’t ever guess about this. There should never be any surprises about this. Find out.

Also make sure you know how much your ROLE is valued by the company. For example you don’t want to be the superstar performer leading the support team for an obsolete product. You may be great, but need to move into a higher valued role to get a raise.

Once you confirm that you are a high performer then go on to build your case for what you want. If you are not perceived as a high performer – fix that first. Understand what it takes, and focus on adding value, before you start asking for things.

3. Discuss your raise as part of a business outcome

The basic premise here is: If I do this, what is it worth to the company? Here are some things you can say:

• Last year, this is what I accomplished and this is my current compensation.
• I would like to raise the bar for the upcoming year, and deliver more value to the company.
• And If I were to add these additional business outcomes, exceed these goals, etc, would that be worth more to the company? How much more?
• What business outcome would I need to accomplish that would be worth this level of pay, or this promotion?
• Can we agree that if I deliver this, you will give me that?

4. Follow up on the specifics…

• 9 months ago, we agreed on performance objectives which if accomplished would result in increased compensation.
• I believe I have delivered on all of these and then some, and I also took on this additional project which has benefited the company by increasing our margin on this product line.
• Do you agree? Can I get your feedback on my accomplishments? … (Assuming it’s very positive then…..)
• Will you be increasing my compensation for next year, per our agreement?

If the answer is, No, for some reason outside performance, you need to get a next agreement. As long as you keep focused on business outcomes, you are on the high ground.

• If your hands are tied right now, I would like to understand the timeline of what is possible, and if it’s not a raise, is there [stock, bonus, promotion, etc.] that could be possible?
• I’m very motivated, but I think you can understand that at some point this level of performance will be hard to keep delivering if it is not recognized by the company, what do you advise?
• You have my commitment to keep delivering for you, but I can you help me understand what I can expect over time in terms of the company being able to hold up our prior agreement about my performance and compensation?
• And my personal favorite… If you were in my position, how long would YOU keep performing at this level with my current compensation?

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with this approach? Do you have something else that has worked in the past? Let us know in the comments!

It’s a good looking book, full of short but good takes from many of the folks on John Sumser’s top HR digital influencers list.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know the advice I give in the e-book isn’t any different than what you’ve seen here in the past. In fact, I checked it out and my answer is simply a variation of a post I did on the subject nearly two years ago about interview advice. I said then:

Answer their ultimate question at every point possible: how do you uniquely fill their need and meet/beat their expectations for the position?

I said in the e-book:

At every point in the job seeking process, understand, communicate and market yourself based on the value you will bring to the companies you want to work for.

A little less company centric but basically the same concept. If you understand what you do and how you bring value to organizations you work for, you hammer that every time you interact with people. When you network, when you’re putting together a resume, when you’re interviewing, when you talk to customers, clients and competitors… everything.

And it isn’t like this is easy. Or that I’ve figured this all out how to do this myself. But I’ve done better by focusing on what can I bring rather than trying to encompass everything I’ve ever done ever. That’s just a losing strategy.

I used to say I knew very little about getting a job. I knew what worked for me but I realized that many HR folks didn’t share my views on quite a few things. After two unexpected job losses in a year (and two total weeks of unemployment between them), maybe I know more about it than I thought.

Knowing something about yourself and not being apologetic about marketing yourself is key. Everything else is just details.