6 of the Best Tips To Let LinkedIn Push Your Career Forward

LinkedIn is a hugely beneficial tool for positioning yourself to make a leap into the job market. LinkedIn used to be viewed as a pinstripe suit, with Facebook the long-haired rebellious younger brother, but now LinkedIn has lots of ways to connect and update your network. As an experienced Healthcare Recruiter, I keep up an active presence on LinkedIn and below are my six best tips for using this tool.

 

 

1. PICTURE

Putting a good, professional, profile picture up on LinkedIn is essential. Without one your LinkedIn profile looks incomplete, almost like you have something to hide. With one, you have added an extra layer to what is effectively your online resume. A LinkedIn profile picture is that cherry on top, don’t forget it.

2. GROUPS

Join Groups. Groups are an excellent way to network, but they are also a wonderful way to add more connections. If you see someone you are interested in speaking with, join a similar group to them. When you want to add them as a connection LinkedIn will ask you how you know that person. The usual options are friend, colleague, schoolmate or someone you have done business with. However, when you are in the same group as that potential contact, and additional option appears and you can choose that group as an option instead. This is a very useful tool for adding to your network.

3. DISCUSS

Don’t just use groups to leverage contacts, posting discussions on groups is a good way of showing that you are an active, lively member of LinkedIn. When people notice you, and view you as a hub for information, they will want to connect with you.

4. NETWORK

The first step to doing this is to become an “Open Networker” – join the open Networking group, and broadcast it on your profile. By becoming an open networker you are telling people on LinkedIn that you will accept any connections. This is an enormously powerful statement which will let it be known you are an open networker. Put simply, you should accept everyone, but invite strategically.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations are an enormously powerful part of LinkedIn – having someone “recommend” your LinkedIn profile is akin to a reference – and the more you get – the more your profile starts to get the glow of success.

6. UPDATE

LinkedIn now has an update feature. However, don’t listen to those counseling to update too regularly. You don’t want your site to flood with information – an update once a week should suffice – but the important thing is that these updates now show that you are an active person in the workplace and only serve to enhance your resume further.

Reprinted with permission from Honapa Bee – http://nationalmedicalsearch.wordpress.com/

Do You Exist if You Can’t Be Googled?

Offline, there are tons of factors that can validate our presence, like street addresses, phone numbers, identification cards, etc. However, doing the same online is not so easy. Since we live in a digital world, it’s more difficult to not just find each other, but validate each other. This begs to question: Do you exist if you can’t be Googled?

Let’s say you are an employer researching a candidate. On paper, they are completely qualified. They have ample experience, stellar recommendations, and a portfolio that would obviously help your company move to the next level. However, just by doing a simple Google search, you find tons of people with not just the same name, but also characters that don’t exactly reflect the candidate in a positive light.

So, how can you (the employer) know the candidate is telling the truth? Further, what’s stopping the candidate from giving your company a bad impression through their social networks if hired?

It’s a technological conundrum that’s probably going to get worse as we become more attached to our devices. How can we protect ourselves from mistaken identity, yet still have an ample online presence?

One solution is to use Vizibility, the first SearchMe Button for Google. With Vizibility, you can customize your top five Google search results, which are then transferred to a free and permanent SearchMe link. This link can be placed almost anywhere, like your resume, online profiles, business cards, e-mail signature, etc. Further, Vizibility also allows users to have a custom QR code. When scanned, your verified results are presented to the researcher, allowing you to proactively put your best foot forward.

In a world where your first impression is your best impression, it’s important to take care of your reputation before it becomes an issue. After all, if you don’t have a positive professional presence, how are you going to get what you want?

Can you find yourself in a Google search result?

Reprinted with permission from Adrian Maynard – vizibility.com/seandillon

 

 

Google us to find out more about Search Entrepreneurs! Search Entrepreneurs launches, trains, supports and builds independently owned businesses in the search, talent management and recruiting arenas.  You can also visit our website to learn more about what it is like to work in the search arena as a recruiter, headhunter, talent broker, or executive consultant providing search, recruitment, talent management, retention, HR consulting, assessment, and executive coaching services to client companies.

Certainly, Sir. Would You Like Fries With That?

I went to my friendly neighborhood Walgreen’s the other day to pick up my prescriptions. I like this store because it has a drive-through. As I watched some schmo in the car ahead of me annoy the pharmacist from the safety of his front seat something occurred to me. No wonder pharmacists are complaining about getting no respect. Silly pharmacists – drive through’s are for hamburgers!

Think about it. McDonald’s: front counter, drive-through area, French fry station, hamburger station, set-up/prep station, etc. Maybe 1 or 2 people staff each station.

Your local chain pharmacy: front counter, drive-through window, data entry station, fill station, verification station, etc. Maybe 1 or 2 people staff the whole operation! But the schmo ahead of me is thinking: McDonald’s drive-through – fast food. Walgreen’s drive-through – fast pharmacy. He’s waving his arms wildly now and yelling at the pharmacist so he can be heard through the bullet-proof glass because those microphones in the clown’s mouth at the burger place never work. He just doesn’t get why he has to come back for his Simvastatin, Cialis, Norvasc, Xanax order. He doesn’t have to come back for a Big Mac!

What we have here is a bad case of fast food mentality. The boys in the front office created it. The schmo ahead of me caught it. And there’s no pill behind the glass that can cure it. You see, this guy probably came through and shoved four bottles into the drawer from a mail-order pharmacy. He wants to transfer his prescriptions to THIS pharmacy. He doesn’t want to wait. That’s why he came to the drive-through. Drive-through = fast food, or this case, fast pills.

OK.
First the pharmacist has to call the mail-order pharmacy. That’ll be 15 or 20 minutes, IF all goes well. In addition, the guy has new insurance. It’s three o’clock on a Friday afternoon and he’s going out of town this weekend. After 18 minutes of waiting on hold, the pharmacist is relieved to find that the mail-order scripts still have refills available. So he runs the first one with the new insurance…..it’s not covered. He explains to the guy that there are some generic refills available – maybe they will be covered. Schmo responds with much waving of arms and a sock to the steering wheel for emphasis. “Why can’t you call the doctor right now and get that prescription straightened out?” wonders Schmo. Sweat appears on the pharmacist’s brow. The phone is lit up. There’s a woman coughing discreetly at the counter. One tech is out sick. The other one wants his break. The pharmacist notices the other prescriptions are covered, but the co-pays are pretty high. He doesn’t have enough medication to fill the whole thing. Schmo blows a gasket over the prices. And so it goes…..

“Hey, Schmo,” I think to myself as I imagine the details of the drama unfolding ahead of me. “Get a grip!” That pharmacist behind the glass is NOT equal to the hamburger guy who slaps pickles on your bun at McDonald’s. He has at least a dozen other responsibilities and six other customers besides you and the health and well-being of all of you depends on the quality of his work. So can the attitude. And tell me something. Why on God’s green earth would you wait until three o’clock on Friday afternoon to fill prescriptions with NEW insurance when you’re leaving town in a couple of hours? And by the way, chewing out the pharmacist over prices is like harassing the waitress over the cost of your meal. Your prescriptions are expensive and he can’t write out new ones. If you want the cheap stuff, call your doctor. And here’s a clue: PICK UP THE PHONE
AND CALL AHEAD. If you had, your doctor could have been contacted and the right drugs could have been ordered.

Yeah, I know. It’s the staffing, stupid. If the suits at CVS and Rite-Aid and Walgreen’s want drive-through windows for those with fast-food mentalities, then they need to staff accordingly. They probably aren’t going to do that any time soon, but that’s a subject for another blog. In the meantime, when getting your prescriptions filled at your local pharmacy, use your head. Know your meds. Understand your insurance. This is your health, so take some responsibility for it. And dang it, Schmo, I know both guys behind the glass are wearing white coats, but applying condiments to your sandwich is simply not equal to double-checking your drug order for dangerous interactions. Those heavy-duty prescription medications you’re on have the potential of really messing you up if  your pharmacist doesn’t get it right. So think about it, Schmo. Do you really want it fast? Or do you want it good?

 

Reprinted with permission from Tom Denton – http://noprescriptionnecessary.wordpress.com/

9 Tips For Job Interview Success

1.Body language is important. Just as what you wear is important, how you project yourself is crucial too. Watch your body language and make sure you don’t slouch; and make sure you regularly make eye contact and smile. If an interviewer cracks a joke, definitely laugh, but try and steer clear of one-liners yourself, you will don’t want to come across as the Office’s Michael Scott.

2.Do your research: When it comes to interviews, doing some background research is essential. Knowing details about company culture, and even the interviewers themselves will help ease any nerves, and also help you fashion your answers better.

3.How do you do this? The company website is the perfect place to start. If there is an “about us” section head straight there; if there isn’t look for information on what the company does, things like annual reports or press releases are perfect. Don’t limit yourself to the company website either, try searching on Google for information on the company, or even better, a blog.

4.What to wear: What you wear to an interview can be crucial. Your research into the company should have given you a good idea of how to match your style to that of the organization, but if in doubt – overdress. Wearing a suit to an interview nicely illustrates just how seriously you are treating this opportunity.

5.Remember your questions: The interview process isn’t all about being quizzed, it also gives you an opportunity to ask questions of your possible employers too. It’s often a good idea to jot down the three or four questions you’re planning to ask and have the sheet in front of you. Not only will this help you  remember any pressing questions, it will also help show the interviewer that you’re organized.

6.Take your time. Relax, but not too much, and be wary of the killer question that leaves your mind totally blank. A good idea is to try taking a deep breath and thinking about it for five to ten seconds. This will seem like an age to you, but not to the interviewers. Another option could be to ask them to repeat the question, which will also give you some time.

7.Don’t waffle. If you don’t know how to answer a particularly tricky question, say so. Simply waffling and stumbling through an awkward answer can be far worse than honestly telling them that you don’t know…

8.Be open, but not TOO open…Sometimes being too honest can be a problem. Even if your ex work colleagues were truly horrible to you, don’t say so. You may come across as negative.

9.End it well. As the interview comes to an end have your questions at hand, express thanks to the interviewers for their time and – crucially –  re-affirm the fact that you are very interested in the job.

 

Reprinted with permission from Honapa Bee – http://nationalmedicalsearch.wordpress.com/

Pharmacists and Temporary Staffing – The Real Cost

THE FORECAST

According to a report released by the American Health Care Association in July 2008, more than 19,400 RN vacancies exist in long-term care settings. These vacancies, coupled with an additional 116,000 open positions in hospitals reported by the American Hospital Association in July 2007, bring the total RN vacancies in the U.S. to more than 135,000. This translates into a national RN vacancy rate of 8.1%.

The True Cost of Temporary Staffing

Google the phrase “temp staff costs” and you will find results dominated by staffing firms intent on convincing you that, among other things, temporary staffing is a good ROI. But no Phoenix University MBA is required to figure out that $70 to $100 per hour (twice the actual cost of permanent employees) is a particularly bad investment. In fact, dozens of case studies have demonstrated that the average mid-size hospital could save between $1 and $6 million annually, simply by eliminating locums.¹    So why does it persist as a major plank in the staffing strategy in nearly every facility in America?

The reason is obvious: Hospitals struggle to attract and retain enough permanent staff.  And the costs are more than dollars and cents. Here are just a few of the costs of chronic use of locums:

• Impact of casual labor on continuity of car
• Reduced ability to implement key initiatives due to turnover
• Increased risk exposure and concerns about patient safety²
• Poor employee morale and workplace satisfaction among nurses and physicians
• Poor employee performance
• Low patient satisfaction

First Solutions:

1. Determine the true cost of temporary staffing in your facility
2. Initially outsource recruitment to specialists to immediately eliminate temp staffing and to consult on recruiting cycle improvements³
3. Develop a long term recruitment and retention strategy that views everyone as part of the recruitment and retention team

NOTES:

¹ Visit this page to read the stories of dozens of facilities that saved up to $6 million annually by eliminating temp staffing.

² Check out this shocking expose by the LA Times of temp staffing quality issues in the State of California

³Simple improvements such as a 24 hour interview/offer cycle and changing the role of Nurse Managers in the recruitment process can result in dramatic increases in recruiting success

 

Reprinted with permission from Rob Kurz – http://www.pharmacareers.typepad.com/