by Angela Copeland | Jan 23, 2024 | Career Corner Column, Newsletter, Personal Brand
Employees are switching jobs, and they switch often. They stay at jobs for a shorter time than their parents or grandparents. In most professions, the concept of sticking with one employer no longer makes sense. In fact, people who stay put are often indirectly penalized by doing so. Employees who stay forfeit promotions and money when they stay for too long.
It’s the time of year when raises may begin to occur. When a company looks at an internal employee, they often focus on the person’s salary history. They’ll say, “We gave James a 9 percent raise last year. He should be happy for a few more years.” But, if James were to go out on the open market, he might find an increase of twenty percent is closer to the market rate. In fact, the company would likely pay more to a new candidate if James were to leave, and the company were to backfill his role.
If you find yourself in this modern day dilemma, one thing is for sure. Your online brand is important. Keeping your online footprint professional is not just for politicians. It’s for every level of worker. In fact, there are hiring managers who will spend more time researching someone online than they will spend interviewing them.
Make sure there is not negative content about you on the internet. A good place to start is Google. Look up your name with quotes around your first and last name. Look through the first two or three pages of search results. And, don’t forget to check Google images.
If you find something negative that you have control over, remove it. Look for photos where you are dressed in a way you would not want an employer to view you. Look for times when you may have shared something on a controversial topic that may be misinterpreted.
Be on alert for negative content for other people who share your same name. For example, if someone with your name was recently arrested and a local TV station is sharing their mug shot photos online, this is a reason to be concerned. If you do see this, you can at times reach out to the TV station and ask them to remove the photos. Alternatively, you can work to create more positive content online that will push down the negative results.
If you work in a creative field, you may consider setting up an online portfolio of your work. You can also use sites like LinkedIn to feature your work.
Get involved in your career community online. Join your university’s alumni group on LinkedIn. Comment on relevant posts your LinkedIn connections make. Consider sharing your own success stories.
Whether or not it should be the case, personal brand matters. And, how your personal brand is perceived online matters. Your resume is no longer the only thing companies are considering. So, take the proactive steps to build your online brand.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on
Apple Podcasts or
Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in
iTunes or
Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | Sep 15, 2020 | LinkedIn, Personal Brand, Podcast
Episode 208 is live! This week, we talk with Madison Yen in Denver, Colorado.
Madison is a photographer and brand strategist, and the CEO of her company, Madison Yen Photography.
On today’s episode, Madison shares:
- What are some of the dos and don’ts of our LinkedIn profile photo?
- How much does it cost, generally, to hire a professional photographer?
- Are photographers shooting photos during the pandemic?
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Madison’s work, check out her website at madisonyen.com.
Thank YOU for listening! If you’ve enjoyed the show today, don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts! When you subscribe, it helps to make the show easier for other job seekers to find the show!
by Angela Copeland | Jun 23, 2020 | Personal Brand, Podcast
Episode 203 is live! This week, we talk with Natasa Djukanovic in Montenegro. Natasa is the Chief Marketing Officer of Domain.ME and is a personal branding expert.
Please note: This episode was recorded before the COVID pandemic began.
On today’s episode, Natasa shares:
- Why you should care what comes up when you Google your name if you’re job searching
- What you can do to clean up your personal brand online
- How to be sure positive content comes up about you on the internet
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Natasa’s work, check out her website at Domain.me.
Thank YOU for listening! If you’ve enjoyed the show today, don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts! When you subscribe, it helps to make the show easier for other job seekers to find the show!
by Angela Copeland | Jul 8, 2019 | Career Corner Column, Job Search, Newsletter, Personal Brand
I don’t know about you, but I was told that the person who’s the most qualified and the hardest working gets the job. But, it turns out, at many companies, it’s just not.
I first learned this lesson in graduate school. I attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s beautiful. When I was studying for my MBA, I wanted to get an internship at The Gap. I assumed they would come to my school to interview students, but they didn’t. They went to UCLA (UCLA is ranked higher).
So, I posed as a UCLA student to land a job interview. It worked. While the UCLA students showed up in jeans and t-shirts, I arrived in a suit, with business cards and resumes. The Gap invited me to their corporate headquarters for meetings. But ultimately, they decided not to extend an internship. One of the reasons for the decision was, they have a specific list of schools they hire from. Pepperdine was not on that list.
This sounds unlikely, but it’s true. I went to a prestigious undergraduate school. There were also employers who would only hire from a small list of elite schools. Back then, I never thought about how unfair this really was. And, I landed my first internship at General Motors without ever having an interview. I remember that my boss said to me, “I didn’t need to interview you. You go to RPI. I knew you would be good.”
Fast forward to today. I was listening to a podcast called Revisionist History, hosted by Malcom Gladwell. Mr. Gladwell has taken a deep dive into the world of law school. As the episode begins, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is speaking to a group of law students. One student asked Mr. Scalia, “…what do smart, hardworking students need to do to be outrageously successful in the law?” Mr. Scalia answered, “…I can’t afford a miss. I just can’t. So, I’m going to be picking from the law schools that basically are the hardest to get into. They admit the best and the brightest. And, they may not teach very well. But, you can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse. If they come in the best and the brightest, they’re probably going to leave the best and the brightest.”
Mr. Scalia went to Harvard. He’s saying that he hires from the very top law schools. Anyone who didn’t go to one of those schools, he won’t consider. And it turns out, very often, companies hire in the same way. If they don’t recognize your school or your past employers, it may not matter how qualified you are.
This method takes the burden off of employers to truly determine what makes someone the best. And, it means that the name brands on your resume could matter more than the experience that sits behind them.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on
Apple Podcasts or
Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in
iTunes or
Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | May 14, 2018 | Career Corner Column, Career Fulfillment, Newsletter, Personal Brand
If you’re like most people, you think you’re the only one. Everything was fine for the first twenty years of your career.
You were focused. You were happy. You were going up the ladder. Then, you hit an age. Maybe it was thirty or forty or fifty. But, suddenly, everything changed.
You are no longer happy at your current job. Something just isn’t right. But, nothing has really changed all that much. And, still, somehow you just aren’t satisfied.
It’s so confusing. Chances are good that you worked your entire career to get to where you are. You’re at the top of the mountain. And, yet, it seems like maybe you were climbing up the wrong mountain. It can make you question everything you’ve worked for.
If this has happened to you, don’t worry. You’re not alone. I talk to multiple people every single day who are having this very same experience.
We’re all just so secretive that we don’t talk about these feelings and thoughts out loud to each other. I wish we would. But, it seems that this kind of sharing might seem to indicate that we have failed in some way.
I prefer to look at it a little different. It’s more like this. You’ve conquered your original goal (the first mountain), and now you’re ready for a new one.
The priorities in your life have shifted. So maybe, you are no longer as motivated by money. Perhaps your retirement account is at a good place. Or, alternatively, maybe money motivates you more. Perhaps you want to catch up on your retirement savings.
Maybe you’ve learned more about yourself. You really don’t like managing people after all. Or, you really don’t want to work in a creative atmosphere where the expectation of producing new content never seems to go away.
Whatever it is, you’ve simply grown. You’ve changed. Growth and change are both good things. And, they’re an inevitable part of life.
Making a change midcareer doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It doesn’t mean you’ll fail in the future. Your priorities have just evolved. It’s time to find something new that better aligns with your new goals and your new direction.
Start small. You won’t find the answer tomorrow. And, you probably won’t find it in your head, thinking for hours, devising the perfect solution. The answer most likely doesn’t exist in any certain personality test either.
Almost always, this career change happens by doing. It happens by getting out there and having conversations with other people in different lines of work. It happens by researching various companies. It happens by volunteering for projects outside of your comfort zone. It happens by trying new things, to find what works and what doesn’t.
Career change is not an easy process, but the journey will take you to where you’re mean to be: a new life that is in alignment with your current and future priorities.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on
Apple Podcasts or
Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in
iTunes or
Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | Jan 23, 2018 | Advice, Career Coaching, Career Fulfillment, Career Reinvention, Career Transition, Personal Brand, Podcast
Episode 155 is live! This week, we talk with Isaac Lake in Memphis, TN. Isaac is a Manager of Brand Performance Support at Hilton. Previously, Isaac worked at the University of Memphis where he was the Manager of Facilities and Programs at the University Center. This is Isaac’s second time on the Copeland Coaching Podcast. He’s a former client and a friend. On this episode, we check back in with Isaac after 3.5 years at Hilton.
On today’s episode, Isaac shares:
- The biggest differences between working in a corporate environment and at a university
- Which transferable skills (and side hustles) helped him to transition into corporate
- The role of networking in the job search
- Advice for others looking to make a major career shift
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Isaac, you can find him on LinkedIn.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching.
Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
Employees are switching jobs, and they switch often. They stay at jobs for a shorter time than their parents or grandparents. In most professions, the concept of sticking with one employer no longer makes sense. In fact, people who stay put are often indirectly penalized by doing so. Employees who stay forfeit promotions and money when they stay for too long.
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