No More Excuses! Today's a New Work Day

In my household, we have kind of a silly ritual. Whenever my wife or I or our daughter launches into a long list of reasons why we haven't done something, or can't do something, one of us says,

"No more excuses. Today's a new day."

 Although each of us cringes a little when we're called out on our excuses, more often than not, the truth is that we have been hiding behind one or all of them. They're comfortable. They help us rationalize why we have been putting this or that off. And sometimes it takes a little push to get us out of that cozy lull we've been in.

Does that describe you when it comes to your career progression? Do you have a list of excuses a mile long and several feet deep?

I bet many of them are even very reasonable ones. The problem is, of course, that even if they are valid, they are still holding you back from progressing in your career. A valid excuse is not necessarily a good excuse to stay in that comfortable place. If you stay there too long, you might be in for a rude awakening.

So, no more excuses! Today's a new day!

Not too long ago, my team and I introduced 4 "crash course" options. These are 4 great ways you can begin to work toward your career progression without getting in too deep, too fast. Think of them as baby steps, but key ones, because they will get you a solid primer of what to expect in today's tech job market and a starting point for launching that career move you've been putting off.

SPECIAL 10-Day Promotion

To help give you a gentle nudge, we are even offering a 10-day promotion on each of our courses. From today, July 21, to Thursday, July 30, if you send me an email at Stephen@ittechexec.com with the subject line "Crash Course Promo", we will send you a special promo code to give you $50 off each course. Our courses are normally $295 each, but for the next 10 days, you can get them for $245 each. By the way, that's $50 off each course, so if you reserve a spot in two, then you get $100 off!

Four Crash Course Offerings

All four of the courses outlined here are conducted by either myself or Sue, our concierge Job Search Agent. They are all one-on-one, don't require too much of your time (usually 1-2 hours at most), and highly valuable because of how market relevant they are, Instead of basic pre-recorded webinars that speak generally, we offer them as customized, 1-1 training. You can learn more and reserve your spot in the personalized "course" today by clicking on the links with each course description. 

Don't forget to email me at Stephen@ittechexec.com, though, for the $50 off promo code!

LinkedIn Crash Course: Because of the rising relevance of LinkedIn in not just the hiring process but also in ongoing career management, we find that many of our members are not really using it or are unaware of how best to use it for them. They know enough to dabble with it, and they know it is important, but they don't have the time or energy to research how to become an "expert" at it. That's where we come in!

Salary Negotiation Crash Course: Our most popular course, here we dive into the nuances of salary negotiation to look at how to "win" by focusing the discussion on value, not experience. Most people try to negotiate from a position of experience, thinking that should "sell" it. Instead we devise a strategy for how to shift the discussion to one of value.

Video Interviewing Crash Course:The higher up the corporate ladder you go, and especially if you are dealing with global companies, the more likely it is that you will face video interviewing. This course includes a mock video interview session with subsequent analysis. Even if you don't end up having a video interview, you can still benefit from a third-party analysis of your interviewing strategy (notice I did not say "skills," I said "strategy."

Recruiter Engagement Crash Course: As you work with Sue on either obtaining our customized recruiter list or the full-service recruiter matching campaign (where Sue takes the list and makes the introductions on your behalf), or if you go about it on your own, you will begin to engage with recruiters who respond and show interest in you and your background. Sometimes it is great; other times it is a confusing world. When recruiters come to you, things can be good, but when you reach out to them, then things can get complicated. I have many recruiter connections, and admittedly, they will tell me that they often say one thing when they mean another. So it is wise to get educated on "recruiter speak."    

  --About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!

Who Controls Your Personal Brand? You or Your Employer?

There's an interesting phenomenon occurring these days when it comes to the idea of "employees as brand ambassadors." With social becoming increasingly more important to most corporations, there is a lot of discussion about how to use employees and their personal social media accounts to help promote the company and its brand.

 What often gets lost in all that discussion, because on the surface it sounds fairly harmless, is that if you as the employee are not careful, your own personal "brand" can get lost or sacrificed for that of the company.

 On top of just the social media aspect, after many of my client members come on board with their new corporations, a lot of them are finding that these organizations have internal staff devoted to building their bios and to shaping how they are "introduced" to the global marketplace. As a result, the company ends up shaping the personal brands of these employees, writing the bio, taking over their LinkedIn profiles, etc.

I can't tell you how many LinkedIn profile summaries and job descriptions (or what are supposed to be job descriptions) I've come across that are really advertisements for the company, not the actual person whose profile it is that I am reading.

So I walk away with very little knowledge of the person and annoyed by the "corporate speak." (Honestly, it's a bit like putting up a company billboard in your front lawn.)

Caution: Don't hand over how you are presented and defined.

It may seem harmless enough at first, but with LinkedIn in particular playing a more prominent role in career progression, it's important you don't lose control over what makes you unique. To help with that, starting last year, we began offering several "Brand Ambassador" options, all of which are designed to help you stay on target with this phase of your career management, as well as in control of how you are shaping your career.

Here are a few of them: Your Brand Ambassadorship Is Yours to Define

• Customized Bio Design:
  • Click here to order a custom bio design with Stephen $375.
• PowerPoint Presentation Design:
  • Lately we've been having more and more of our client members request PowerPoint presentations that serve as additional marketing pieces beyond just the bio. I've seen them used as part of speaking engagements, team introductions, with industry association meetings, etc. Click here to order a custom PowerPoint Presentation Design $695.
• Bio Update with PowerPoint Presentation Design:
  • We've put the two together here with the Bio & PowerPoint design for just $879 (almost a $200 savings).

Of course, you can also always take advantage of our free 15-minute phone/Skype consult with me. To book yours today, simply click on the calendar image below, and pick the date/time that works best for you in your time zone:
  The point is to make your career management simple, targeted, and certain.

--About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!

How to Write a Killer Tech Resume

Thank you to Rich Hein and the Executive Council at CIO.com for inviting me to participate in this webinar on July 15 at 2pm Eastern. To listen to the hour-long discussion, simply click on the image below.

Also, in the meantime, take my simple, 8-question "How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume?" assessment. It's free, completely anonymous, and only takes ~30 seconds to do. You might be surprised by what you find out!  

Listen to the Webinar by clicking on the image!


  --About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!

How Certain Can You Be About Your IT Resume?

When I begin working with a new IT job seeker, without fail, there are two things they are hoping for:

(1) a simplified career move backed with a level of (2) certainty (or peace of mind).

With the job market a bit of a "zoo" and corporate hiring processes a mess (what I call the corporate "goo" that most professionals get stuck in), no matter whether you are just starting out in IT or a Fortune 100 CIO, we all want to find some level of simplicity and certainty amidst the chaos. At ITtechExec, my team and I spend a lot of time considering, creating, and updating solutions (from the resume through the job search process) that work toward that goal.

We also combine these elements with a key market demand, which is (3) proper positioning or targeting. Employers are overwhelmed with misaligned candidates, which creates more havoc on the hiring process at all levels. Therefore, making sure you are hitting the right target is vital.

How Certain Can You Be About Your IT Resume?

Since the resume is such a big question for so many IT pros getting ready to make a career move ("should I update mine," "how do I know how good it is," "whom do I listen to for resume advice", etc.), I've put together a basic 8-question, anonymous and complimentary, self-assessment tool or quiz, if you will, to help you understand the level of certainty you should have in it.

How can an 8-question quiz possibly do all that?

Simple. It examines a key ingredient in resume design: priorities. If you understand what the priorities should be for the technical job market, then you will build a resume that meets them. If you don't, then you won't. You'll build it for a different set of priorities. It might be nice looking; it might say all you want it to say; it might make you look like an IT giant. But it will be misaligned.

And this misalignment is the hardest thing for most IT pros to grasp because they think that if they just meet all the job description requirements, then they are a perfect fit! The problem is that companies often say one thing and do another. So you really have to be watching the hiring process closely to see what actually works.

Based on our experience working with hundreds of technical leaders each year, helping them to craft resume and personal brand messages, as well as provide concierge job search solutions, if you can score 80% or better on our quiz, then you are on your way to a simplified, targeted, and certain career move. If not, then there's some work to be done, no matter how eye-catching your IT resume is or how much you personally like it.

So take less than 30 seconds and see at how your resume was designed and where it is focused (only you will know your result):

About ITtechExec

Simplified. Targeted. Certain.

My name is Stephen Van Vreede, and I overcome uncertainty everyday for my senior-level client members as an Executive IT Résumé Writer and Job Search Specialist, as well as a Technical Career Adviser to several news/industry outlets, like TechRepublic, Dice, the Linux Foundation, and CIO.com. I'm also co-author of UNCOMMON with renowned speaker and career coach Brian Tracy (released June 11, 2015). Along with my team of writers and concierge job search agent, from established "techies" (15+ years), to those who lead software/systems development initiatives, to project/program managers (PMPs), to IT strategy visionaries like CIOs and CTOs, and many others in between, they all have one thing in common, most likely the same thing you're looking for:

To feel certain when you conduct your next career move that you are ready for the market and well positioned to meet its demands (not to hope you are or think you are but to have a level-headed, frank understanding of the market and your place in it).

That's why after working with hundreds of clients each year, and after reporting on the technical job market to several industry news outlets, my team and I have put together a very simple, anonymous, self-assessment quiz designed to determine whether the IT resume you've put together should bring you a level of certainty (or peace of mind) that you are well positioned for the market.

So, give it a shot. Take the quiz above and find out. It's free, quick (take less than a minute), and anonymous.

Why You Need More Than Conventional Salary Negotiation Advice

There's a lot of salary negotiation advice out there that on the surface is solid, such as "go online and look at various salary comparables." But most of the advice only focuses on one side of the negotiation, building your argument. To get the most out of any negotiation, however, you want to make sure you understand the other side's position as well as your own. And that's where most professionals go wrong. The following presentation helps you go beyond the conventional to get the best number, not just a satisfactory number, from your next salary discussion:

7 Salary Negotiation Tips You Probably Haven't Used (Well) from Stephen Van Vreede

--About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!

How to Make Your CIO Job Search Simple

I get asked all the time by various types of technical leaders how they can make their job search much simpler. My answer?

Don't Do It All Yourself.

It's really not as hard as it may seem. We get help for almost everything of importance we do in life (and yes, your career is important. It may not be the most important thing, but if you need to eat and pay bills, then it's important.) From big things like investment planning to tax preparation to real estate advice down to small things like yard work and hair cutting, we might like to think of ourselves as DIYers, but generally, we rarely go it alone.

For some reason, when it comes to careers and protecting our livelihoods, we act like it is a burden we must carry by ourselves.

And maybe there is some justification for that. In the past, the job search process was less complicated. Corporate ladders, at least seemed, more straightforward. There weren't so many dotted lines and grays areas. Today, well, it's a bit of a zoo with corporate hiring practices that are full of "goo" (aka, a hot, sticky mess).

All of that makes for a shifting landscape, and unless you're a professional job seeker, it's unlikely you are up on all the latest and (not so) greatest in hiring. So while you can still go it alone, just like you can try and sell your house on your own, it can make for a long, frustrating, and complicated process.

My team and I have spent a lot of time considering three important factors when it comes to both our resume/brand messaging solutions and our concierge job search services:

1. How can the job search process be made more simple for the job seeker?
2. How do we ensure that our client members are properly positioned or targeted to communicate value, not just credentials, to their desired audience?
3. How can we build certainty into the job search process?

Simplified. Targeted. Certain.

Of course, there is no magic pill or no slam dunk, but even with our current crazy job market zoo, making a career move doesn't have to be a crap shoot either. Nor does it have to be all on your shoulders to carry.

Isn't that a relief?

But sometimes getting started is the hardest part (let's face it, there are "sexier" things to spend your time on), but for most of us, we know we need to get going on making that next career move. And if you are a CIO or looking to move toward that CIO role, we offer 3 great options. (If you're not a CIO but in the technical arena, please see Bonus Option at the end of article.)

1. Start with the very simple. Get properly matched with CIO recruiters who specifically place CIOs like you (and in YOUR salary range). This is very important, and believe it or not, it can take a lot of work, researching, vetting, and trying to meet recruiters who are really well suited for you (and you for them). Recruiting is not local anymore, and it is all about timing. So you need to contact many of them, but they should be targeted to fit you and your needs.

So why not do yourself a favor? Save hours of research and frustration. We've already done most of the legwork for you.

Click Here to Learn How to Get Your U.S. CIO Recruiter Directory for $49

  2. Better yet, why not get the directory for free? For 30 minutes of your time, you can have a 1-1 complimentary consult with me and receive the CIO recruiter directory for free. How's that for simple?

Get a Free Consult, Get a Free Directory! Click Here to Find Out More.

  3. Get educated. Receive our brief presentation called: "How You Can Leverage Technical Recruiters to Build a Career Protection Pipeline"  

BONUS OPTION

Here's the simplest one of all! Whether or not you are a CIO or future CIO, to see whether we are a good fit for you, take our free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz:

Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You?

--About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!

Where Technical Resumes Are Headed

 

Perhaps you can relate ... you think:

• Resumes are no big deal.
• Resumes are a VERY big deal.
• You have no idea what kind of deal resumes are anymore.

Here's the real deal:  

Resumes are one piece of the “career move” zoo. They still play a vital part out in that zoo, but other aspects are just as vital.  

95% of professionals spend so much time either over- or underestimating the job market that they end up focusing on the wrong things.

So where are technical resumes headed? (In truth, they are already there; it's just so few candidates that are actually doing it.)

Resume portfolios along with an industry-focused job search strategy are the most effective approach today.

This is not an opinion. It is proven time and again by today’s market.

 Because we are so caught up in it, we often forget that the job market runs on supply-and-demand. So when you watch what companies do as part of their hiring today (and NOT listen to what they say or what “experts” say they say), you discover two interesting things:

1. Companies respond well when information is “dripped” to them. They want to be introduced to you, get a feel for you (a summary), talk to you, learn more about you, get to know you, and finally be reassured that you “fit in.” In other words, it’s a process.

2. Companies really want to believe you are one of them. And that goes way beyond the list of credentials they stuff job descriptions full of. (Again, they often say one thing and do another!)

So what is a “resume portfolio?” And why is it so effective?

Most people see the resume as a list of credentials and experience. That’s what they are used to reading and that’s all they know. So they don’t want to give it much time. They just want to toss it together and hope it stands out from the crowd. Or, perhaps worse, they end up obsessing over every square inch of it, still missing the bigger picture. Remember, we can all produce lists of credentials (feel free to read more about mine and those of Our Team). The question is, though, “how will you leverage them to benefit the one hiring you the most?”  

Hiring is largely determined by benefits, not by features!!  

The resume portfolio gives you more room to focus on the benefits. The more you do that, the more companies want to know about you.

To do that, we start with the traditional resume as your foundation with addenda or add-on pages that serve as reinforcements to build off the positioning of the resume. We then use a form of “drip marketing” to present the material throughout your discussions with the prospective employer. When you do this, leadership begins to pay a lot more attention to what you have to say. (For more specifics on how this works, check out Move Over Resume, Hello Portfolio and Making the Most Out of Your Resume Portfolio.)  

With up to a 74% reduction in job search time over the national average, our resume portfolio stats paint a convincing picture!

So what's in a technical resume portfolio arsenal?

• Resume
• LinkedIn Profile
• Cover Letter
• Marketing Brief
• Bio
• Thank-You Template
• Infographic Resume
• Problems-Solutions-Results (PSR) Page
• Innovation Page
• Testimonials Page
• Project Highlights Page

Now, no one needs to have ALL of these materials. But you should build your portfolio based off of your goals, target market demands, and specific situation. In other words, it should be customized to you.  

Too many people are saying that "less is more," but our experience with hundreds of technical leaders each year proves that it's not less, it's information provided in smaller chunks that makes more of an impact.  

--About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!