A few basic networking rules to remember:

1) Make a good impression with a strong introduction.

2) Keep it brief – this is the time for that two-minute elevator speech!

3) Focus on the positive! This is not the time for aired grievances or sad stories.

4) Be a good listener – take the time to pay attention to – and file in your memory – the key points from your contact’s elevator speech.

5) Pass on your business card – again keep it brief. Better yet, create a networking business card (mini resume) and you’re covering both bases at once!

Colleen Reyerson is a Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW) and principal of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing solutions for six- and seven-figure job seekers. Member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) (www.parw.com), the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA) (www.thenrwa.com), Career Directors International (CDI) (www.careerdirectors.com), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) www.bbb.org/ERA.

In the current sluggish economy, companies struggling to recover are finding it more important than ever to find strong leadership with that executive presence. Large companies such as Intel Corp. and Morgan Stanley have established programs to educate their aspiring leaders on executive presence. Ambitious mid-level staffers at Intel are shown how to present effectively through a discussion of “constructive confrontation” and simulated meetings with an executive audience.

Tips to improve your executive presence:

• Avoid gesturing excessively
• Counter the urge to interrupt by counting to four before you reply
• Stand or sit large to show that you take up space
• Use qualifiers sparingly as they tend to imply a lack of confidence
• Refrain from clasping your hands behind your back as this can be perceived as deceptive
• Practice and perfect a firm handshake

Rosalind Hudnell, Intel’s chief diversity officer, created a “Command Presence” workshop for its rising female technical stars. She recalls that her survival in the corporate environment long “depended on my being able to command a room.” She believes executive presence also involves the ability to command other leaders.

To assess and bolster your executive presence, the experts recommend first identifying your strengths and weaknesses. James Citrin, a CEO recruiter for search firm Spencer Stuart, suggests keeping a journal based on workplace observations of executives with authoritative presence and imitate their behaviors that feel comfortable and natural to you.  Also ask for candid feedback from colleagues, who tend to notice flaws in your executive presence.

Source: Wall Street Journal Careers – http://online.wsj.com/article

Colleen Reyerson is a Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW) and principal of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing solutions for six- and seven-figure job seekers. Member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) (www.parw.com), the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA) (www.thenrwa.com), Career Directors International (CDI) (www.careerdirectors.com), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) www.bbb.org/ERA.

Top Large Workplaces:

1. Woodward Academy Inc
2. Newell Rubbermaid Inc.
3. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries
4. Alston & Bird LLP
5. IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)

Top Midsize Workplaces:

1. LeasePlan USA
2. Hall Booth Smith & Slover, P.C.
3. Crossroads Hospice of Atlanta
4. Northwest Exterminating
5. PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services

Top Small Workplaces:

1. Peachtree Planning Corp
2. Bardi Heating & Air
3. Smith & Howard, P.C.
4. UroMed, Inc.
5. Taylor English Duma LLP

Source: http://www.ajc.com/business/topworkplaces

Colleen Reyerson is a Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW) and principal of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing solutions for six- and seven-figure job seekers. Member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) (www.parw.com), the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA) (www.thenrwa.com), Career Directors International (CDI) (www.careerdirectors.com), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) www.bbb.org/ERA.

CEO Jeff Weiner, who made $5.2 million in the IPO (and holds a remaining stake valued at $230 million), does not see Facebook as a threat to LinkedIn. He said that while LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are often lumped together in a broad social networking category, all three represent separate social platforms that serve different needs, and that most people prefer to keep their professional and personal online personas distinct. He cited keg stand (the college tradition of drinking beer from the tap of a keg while suspended upside-down) photos as a prime example of the types of personal information members would not be inclined to share with a prospective employer.

But Facebook appears to be making some major changes. Right now the site isn’t set up to be used for professional networking (LinkedIn’s primary focus). Rather, profiles consist of personal information, pictures, and videos, a structure not conducive to job searches or making professional connections. But Facebook has recently created friend grouping, enabling connections to see an entirely different set of content (for example, a professional profile minus the personal information or photos). Facebook is also reported to be changing its data structure to introduce the concept of networking, a newly added relationship type. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for these two online social networking giants.

Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/19/us-linkedin-ipo-factbox-idUSTRE74I73P20110519

http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2010/11/17/linkedins-secret-anti-facebook-weapon-keg-stands

http://techcrunch.com/2007/10/13/facebook-has-linkedin-in-the-crosshairs

Colleen Reyerson is a Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW) and principal of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing solutions for six- and seven-figure job seekers. Member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) (www.parw.com), the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA) (www.thenrwa.com), Career Directors International (CDI) (www.careerdirectors.com), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) www.bbb.org/ERA.

The overall national unemployment rate is remaining at 8.8% (13.5 million Americans). Industries showing the most job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, leisure and hospitality, and mining. Manufacturing employment is also continuing to trend up.

Industries with increased employment include professional, business, and technical services, health care, leisure, and hospitality. Manufacturing also continues to trend up, with gains notably in two durable goods industries: fabricated metal products and machinery.

Not surprisingly considering the budgetary contractions, local government employment continues to trend down, with a loss of 416,000 jobs since September 2008.

According to projections recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those industries include:

• Biomedical and environmental engineering
• Advertising, marketing, sales, promotions, and public relations
• Computer and information systems management
• Medical and health services, particularly personal and home care services
• Management and financial analysis

Companies in the management, business, and financial sector can expect only average growth this year. In general, top executive jobs are anticipated to increase 15%, with relatively little turnover. With a surplus of qualified applicants for top positions, executive-level job seekers can expect steep competition in the market.

Executives seeking a career change should wage a strategic, no-holds-barred search and anticipate a longer than average search, as competition increases exponentially when a candidate seeks to enter a new field. A component of that strategy should include an assessment of the market to target those industries projected to provide the most opportunities.

Colleen Reyerson is an Executive Resume Writer in Atlanta, GA. She is one of only 12 Certified Expert Resume Writers (CERW) in the U.S., and the sole CERW in the state of Georgia. Colleen is the principal of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing documents for senior-level job seekers. Executive Resumes Atlanta is a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.

Several major U.S. companies such as Sallie Mae, Delta, Dell and the Home Shopping Network are moving some of the work that they had offshored back home, says Computer World. Some economists are advocating return of overseas work back to the U.S. “not as a protectionist trade policy-but as a strategic move designed to conserve a market (namely, U.S. consumers.)”

The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently reported that Georgia is one of several states seeing its economic prospects improve due to offshoring. Economic development officials say the drivers include decreased savings in moving jobs to China (wages there have increased); increased shipping and transportation costs; and safety and quality issues.

Two companies are opting to bring jobs to Georgia that had been considered for offshoring. Automation giant NCR Corp. (slated to relocate its headquarters to Gwinnett County), is bringing 900 jobs to Columbus, GA, and a subsidiary of Chicken of the Sea, Thai Union Frozen Products PCL, will create 200 jobs in its canning operations in Lyons, GA (located between Macon and Savannah).

The Board of Directors Network is a nonprofit research and advisory organization seeking to increase the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.

For the past 17 years, the BDN has been tracking the status of women in corporate boardrooms and executives suites. During that time, the percentage of women named as corporate officers and directors has for the most part remained flat, despite the significant changes among Georgia’s publicly held companies over the years, as some organizations have gone private and others have been acquired.

The 2009 study shows that only 45 percent of Georgia’s 160 public companies have at least one woman on their board — the lowest percentage in seven years. In 2004 and 2007, that percentage was at 49 percent, the highest it’s ever been. The percentage of women-held board seats are: 7.6% in Georgia public companies, 9.7% in Georgia Top 50 public companies, and 15% in Georgia companies in Fortune 500.

Miriam Burgess, BDN’s 2009 president, said, “The lack of progress is very disappointing. Women directors and women officers are good for business.”

The BDN study also reported that among 160 public companies, only two have women as chairs, and only three have women as CEOs, a number that has remained unchanged since 2007.

Rona Wells, BDN’s executive director said, “The pace of change is pretty glacial. Unless we do something different, it’s going to stay at the pace we are in adding and losing women directors. It’s not ever going to move a whole lot.”

Sources: Board of Directors Network (www.boarddirectorsnetwork.org) and Atlanta Business Chronicle (October 23, 2009)

Colleen Reyerson is an Executive Resume Writer in Atlanta, GA. She is one of only 12 Certified Expert Resume Writers (CERW) in the U.S., and the sole CERW in the state of Georgia. Colleen is Managing Director of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing documents for senior-level job seekers. Executive Resumes Atlanta is a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.

Events will include a Disney workshop (Disney’s Approach to Leadership Excellence), an Economic Forecast Panel Discussion, and a Customer Service Leadership presentation by Hal Becker (a leading national speaker on sales and customer service).

Tickets for the event are $49 (non-refundable).

Colleen Reyerson is an Executive Resume Writer in Atlanta, GA. She is one of only 12 Certified Expert Resume Writers (CERW) in the U.S., and the sole CERW in the state of Georgia. Colleen is Managing Director of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing documents for senior-level job seekers. Executive Resumes Atlanta is a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) now has more than 48 million members in over 200 countries. Executives and business professionals from all Fortune 500 companies can be found among the membership.

Features include automatic notification to your network when you make a major change to your Profile (e.g., announcing an event in your professional life), posted job listings, and a search feature that allows you to not only research companies, but find information on target companies from other members (e.g. why they left a company and what they did / did not like about it).

Maintaining a LinkedIn Profile enables you to establish a professional online presence and create a personal brand, strengthening your overall credibility and providing a vehicle for others to easily access information about you. For example, more than 70% of recruiters Google candidates to find out more about them.

Other online business networking sites include http://Xing.com, http://Ecademy.com, and http://Ziggs.com.

Colleen Reyerson is an Executive Resume Writer in Atlanta, GA. She is one of only 12 Certified Expert Resume Writers (CERW) in the U.S., and the sole CERW in the state of Georgia. Colleen is Managing Director of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing documents for senior-level job seekers. Executive Resumes Atlanta is a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.