Rita Ashley, Career Coach. Field tested advice for executives.

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By admin, January 2, 2009 6:36 pm

Find email addresses for people who will hire you.

Executives and  technology professionals in job search mode face the daunting challenges of finding and connecting with senior executive who can advance their search. The challenge is made all the harder when you ask:

1. How do I discover who they are?
2. How do I discover their credentials to determine what they can do for me?
3. How do I discover their contact information?

Once you know what company you want to approach search the web site “about us” section to find the names of strategic executives.  Read their bios, do a web search to discover their other affiliations and above all, look for them on LinkedIn. Find people in your network who can/will introduce you.

If you have no one in your network, use the ‘search’ feature and ‘company alerts’ function to find second or third level connections and connect with those who will help.  If that doesn’t get you to the right people, look to your own Internet search for a solution.

Zoom Info provides names and contact information for 38 million people for a fee.  The service, and others like it, may be an asset for a highly targeted job search.  Though my own test of the free information on my name (you can do the same) provided out of date and insufficient information, it is a good place to start.  Services like Zoom use data they obtain by extensive Internet search for mention of a given individual’s name.  If their information is incomplete or missing, services typically have no way to add or correct. The info is still useful because knowing former employers and board members may lead you to the people with whom you want to connect.

A dependable resource for finding either the contact information for the person to whom you hope to connect or those with whom they work is  a search engine string:  “email * xyz.com ” including the quotes and where xyz is the name of the company.

If it is U.S. Postal information you desire, try:  “mailto ** xyz.com “, again use the quotes and xyz is the company name.

I don’t advise home contact, but if all roads are blocked, you can often locate home numbers using: first name, last name, zip code.

For more detail on locating, connecting with and enticing hiring authorities to help with your job search, read, “Job Search Debugged, Insider’s Guide to Job Search.”

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By admin, September 21, 2008 5:34 pm

SOMEONE just sent me and many others porno pix of themselves on Twitter (she is now blocked from following me). They now exist for eternity. Imagine how she will feel years from now when a prospective employer sees them.

It is so easy to broadcast our most scurrilous behaviors and the thrill must be very exciting to some people. Why else would the social networking sites be filled with Amy Winehouse-style tales of orgies, drugs and alcoholic stupors? People, listen, stop posting internet messages you wouldn’t want prospective employers or customers to read. Employers use social networking sites to research candidates. It is an absolute fact. Don’t Twitter your career away.

I know you have opinions and you believe they are valid and important. But also believe this, not everyone agrees with you and anyone can read your comments. All those social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter provide voyeuristic access to anyone who wants to vet you before they invite you to interview, do business with you or accept your offer to consult.

Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one. Don’t let yours limit your career and business options. Voicing them publicly changes no ones mind, affects no positive outcome and garners you no accolades. Keep your opinions private. Share them with close friends, but don’t use the internet as your podium.

One in five employers uses social networking sites to research prospective employees. In smaller companies, the percentages are higher, especially for technology companies. It is so simple to Google the name of a prospective employee or someone on the radar that it is almost a given. Facebook and Twitter (and other) users can locate your name and comments at a click of a mouse. And even if you think you deleted an incriminating entry, there is no proof someone hasn’t copied it, shared it or achieved it.

The more senior your position, the more likely you will be researched on-line. There are no laws to protect you from people losing interest in interviewing you because they don’t agree with your political choices. There is no way for you to detect when, even with an introduction, you are not invited to meet with someone because they did a quick search and discovered you engage in drunken orgies, or you are an avid moose hunter, or support drilling in Alaska when the reader doesn’t.

Each year our lives become less private. Every time you join a social network or post your biography, you increase the chance anyone can find out even the most unpleasant of your secrets; so don’t share them. And hard as it is to do, stop sharing your opinions; there is no positive outcome.

Happy that your Facebook and Myspace accounts are cleared up? Now take a look at the sites where your photos are posted. Don’t forget, once people start to research you, anything is fair game. As a rule, only post pictures or messages you would send to your mother.

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