5 Things I Learned from Our Guest Speaker [Ash Cross]

The other day, we had a fantastic guest speaker who gave a ton of practical advice on LinkedIn, so here are the five pieces of advice that stuck with me.

1. Use Keywords: Add skills, tools, and industry terms so recruiters can actually find you. (Avoid pointless soft skills [if I remember correctly])
2. SMILE (A Friendly Profile Photo): A simple smile can make you seem more approachable.
3. Join Groups/Connect: More often, your name pops up in the right circles.
4. Ask Smart Questions: Thoughtful questions show you’re interested and make you more memorable. (interview-wise) I wrote down one of the questions that stuck with me:
• What do you wish you knew when you started?
5. Don't put all your eggs in one basket: Towards the end, they spoke about a job they poured everything into, and they just sounded drained. Also, keep an eye on how they treat you during the interview.

Honestly, I'm scared of how much I didn't know about LinkedIn. Since I have never been serious about job hunting. 

Extra Bit- The last job I had, they bragged about not reading anyone's resume. This made sense, given that I was supposed to receive a bonus as a veteran (I didn't), plus them not asking why I was changing careers. When I pointed this out, they mocked me and started saluting me when I clocked out. Saying "okie dokie, soldier" (yes, the manager). You can bet when I got accepted to Keiser, I QUIT ON THE SPOT. 

Well, actually, my roommate and I made a bingo card with bad stuff they would do. It was a 3 by 3, and if I got 3 in a row, I would put in a 2-week notice. (One of the slots was "being sent to work on the freezer and then being told to go outside", and another was "being called the wrong name.") I filled the whole thing in 2 hours. The turnover rate was 80% for a reason. I say all this because the red flags were all there from the start. One flag to look out for is when the interviewer is actively working. (going around the block doing stuff {not focus on the interview}) Or nobody has anything good to say about the job/people. Pay attention to the moral.