Here’s what I read this week and recommend you do, too!

• 5 Takeaways from My First Year of Agency Life
• Can an Internal Coach or HR Pro Be Trusted With Your Secrets?
• Students & Recent Grads: How to Get a Real Job
• Colleges Work to Maintain an Information Deficit About Their Effectiveness
• Interview question: What questions do you have for me?
• How To Get A Personal Referral For A Job
• How to Ace Your Interview
• 10 Steps to Starting a Small Business
• 5 Things I Have Learned As a Generation Y Business Owner
• Must I Send Thank Yous to All 5 of My Interviewers?
• 7 Key Ways to Promote Your Personal Brand
• The Holy Grail of Job Search
• How to Answer 10 Tricky Interview Questions
• Do You Know What Other People Are Saying About You?
• 7 Ways to Get a Hiring Manager’s Name
• Treat Your Job Search Just Like a PR Campaign
• 5 Reasons a Blog is a Must for Job Hunters
• 5 Tips for Job Hunting in the Twittersphere

Everyone always asks me how I do everything I do (full-time PR job, founder/president of Come Recommended, national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com, author, founding partner of MyPRMatch.com, etc.). Needless to say, productivity is an important issue for me in order to balance all of my commitments — and also have a life outside of them!

So, I was incredibly excited to read a long cover story about productivity in this month’s Inc. magazine. I always find it interesting to see how other people manage their hectic lives. After all, there is no one “right” way.

“A lot of productivity is capturing ideas. I use a wiki — it’s more valuable than e-mail for running a company — and I have a page for every person with whom I interact frequently.” — Garrett Camp, founder of StumbleUpon

“For me, a big part of productivity is being agile. I like to leave a lot of blocks in my day open. I’m only 50 percent scheduled, though occasionally it gets as high as 80 percent. That’s imperative, because often something comes up out of nowhere.” — Scott Lang, CEO of Silver Spring Networks

“If I think something is going to take me an hour, I give myself 40 minutes. By shrinking your mental deadlines, you work faster and with greater focus.” — Krissi Barr, founder of Barr Corporate Success

“[My executive assistant] e-mails me a daily memo, which I read after I go home every night. It’s in four parts, and the first part is my next day’s schedule. Then comes a list of questions that cropped up during the day — maybe someone wants to know whether I have feedback on the new Hudson Yards Catering logo. She aggregates them so she doesn’t have to interrupt me repeatedly during office hours. I’ll respond to those right away. The third part of the e-mail is FYIs: information I don’t have to act on but might like to know. Maybe my mother called to make a reservation for her neighbor next week at Blue Smoke. Or there might be a change in my schedule. Finally, there is a section of longer-term reminders. I promised to write a blurb for a friend’s book. I want to plan a vacation, so I need to check on my kids’ school schedules. We started the memos only last year, and I don’t know how we managed without them. I care about the details. This way, I don’t worry that I’m missing anything.” — Danny Meyer of the Union Square Hospitality Group

“Being in good shape gives me energy. I’ve lifted weights since college, so I get up every morning at 3:30, and I’m at the gym by 4. There are three gyms near my house, and I used to rotate through all of them, because the angles on the machines are different: They work the muscles differently. Now I just alternate between two. By 5:30, I’m home and then out on my bike. I ride 25 miles before breakfast.” — Jordan Zimmerman, founder of Zimmerman Advertising

“No meetings. No phone calls. Everything is documented [via e-mail] so the number of ‘let’s talk again’ or ‘get together to clarify’ or ‘get on the same page’ are gone.” — Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks

“I have a to-do list so I don’t forget things. But I don’t prioritize tasks. I just know what needs to be done, and I check tasks off in the order I do them.” — Caterina Fake, founder of Hunch

“If you’re having trouble getting started on something, you’re going to have trouble finishing it. Delegate it sooner rather than later.” — Julie Ruvolo, co-founder and COO of Solvate

What are your tips for productivity?

I’ve been reading Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work by Tamara Erickson. I have a feeling quite a few posts will come from it, but I’d like to start with a point she makes that I’ve always believed: follow your passions.

Like no other generation before us, we’ve been encouraged from the beginning that we can “do anything.” To me, this includes following our passions in the workplace rather than simply bringing home a paycheck.

Erickson includes a quiz everyone should take: Do you love your job? (If you don’t currently have one, think about the one you plan to pursue in answering the following questions.)

Are you excited and enthusiastic about your job?

Do you ever lose yourself—forget about time and place—because you’re so wrapped up in the work you truly enjoy?

Do you happily focus on your work, versus waiting eagerly for the next e-mail or IM to arrive and break the boredom?

Do you voluntarily invest extra effort or produce significantly more than your work requires?

Is what you’re doing so inherently interesting that you think about it after hours—for example, in the car or on the way home?

Do you routinely search for ways to improve things at work or volunteer for more difficult assignments?

Is your enthusiasm contagious—does your passion for work encourage others to join in?

Are you proud to identify with your work?

So where do you begin? How do you know if you’re heading down the right path—or not?

Erickson and her colleagues identified six “archetypes of work-related passions and preferred relationships with work.”

Expressive legacy: Work is about creating something of lasting value. Career examples: architecture, construction, professional services, and a wide variety of the arts.

Secure progress: Work is about predictable upward mobility—a secure path to success. Career examples: education, healthcare, government, manufacturing, and transportation.

Individual expertise and team victory: Work is an opportunity to contribute, to be a valuable part of a winning team. The particular industry is not important to these individuals.

Risk with reward: Work is an opportunity for challenge, change, learning, and maybe, wealth. Career examples: information technology, investment banking, and professional services.

Flexible support: Work is a livelihood but not currently a priority. Career examples: financial services and leisure/hospitality.

Limited obligations: Work’s value is largely its near-term economic gain. Career examples: retail, wholesale, and transportation.

She gives a detailed assessment to help you identify which archetype best represents you, and then interprets the characteristics of each in more depth.

So where will your passions intersect with your workplace preferences? Erickson describes the seven that are changing the most:

Corporations are evolving into next-generation enterprises.

Entrepreneurial start-ups are facing better odds.

Professional services are rethinking the one-size fits all career model.

Education is challenging itself to match twenty-first century needs.

Social entrepreneurship and nonprofits are doing good and doing well.

The trades and other so-called middle-skill jobs are not going away.

Government services are offering unprecedented opportunity.

Again, I could probably write a blog post about each, but I highly recommend you read the book for more details!

Next Erickson encourages you (us) to think about how to align your pursuits with practicality.

Time: What other priorities do you have for your life? How much time would you like to devote to work?

Rhythm: How much spontaneity or predictability do you need to accomplish the other priorities in your life?

Economic reality: How much money do you need at this stage of your life? What standard of living will be comfortable to you?

Challenge: How new and how difficult do you want your future work to be?

Responsibility: How willing are you to take on roles, including managerial tasks, that directly affect others? Are you comfortable having others depend on you? Are you willing to have people look to you for leadership or direction?

To help you create your own personal “career curve,” Erickson breaks down several common (you guessed it) archetypes based on these questions you’ve just answered about yourself.

Intellectual: You like to work in intense bursts, with flexibility and challenge.

Customer-facing: You enjoy interacting with others in roles that are relatively straightforward, well defined, and service oriented.

Behind the scenes: You love work that is predictable, clearly scheduled, and could be done on a part-time basis.

Interdependent: You enjoy being in the center of a complex team of people and are willing to assume intense roles.

Change agent: You like to take on significant challenges and have relatively low needs for additional income.

Entrepreneur: You are willing to invest significant amounts of time, and perhaps money, to tackle big challenges.

Everything discussed to this point has been about career direction. What about the actual job? Erickson, clearly a fan of lists, encourages you to consider four things:

The location where you will live

The company you will be associated with—its practices, policies, and reputation

The colleagues you will work with day-to-day, particularly your boss

The actual assignment(s) you will be performing

In a future post, I will go into further detail about Erickson’s tips for finding the “perfect” job.

In the meantime, what has this post help you discover about yourself and your career passions?

Here’s what I read this week and recommend you do, too!

• Are Millennials the ideal workers in the new economy?
• Let a mentor lead you out of the recession
• 8 Essential Business & Career Skills You Develop from Running a Blog
• Taking References for Granted: A Bad Plan
• Do You Really Want to Work There?
• 6 Ways to Implement a Generous Job Search
• Super Staying Power: How to Not Lose Your Job
• 4 Tips On Negotiating a Killer Salary

Today’s entry-level job search is frustrating. It’s almost infuriating. You sound perfect for an open position and then you read minimum 2 years experience required. And you’re thinking, “How can I get experience without any experience?!”

Sometimes it seems impossible. Job searching is like riding a rollercoaster — it brings so many emotions with it. There are ups and downs. Knowing how to manage those emotions will help keep you on the right track in your job search. Here are some ways to overcome those negative aspects of your job search and some things you can do when you get really, really, really discouraged.

1. DON’T GIVE UP! This is the most important thing to remember when you get discouraged. If you give up on your job search, you’re only hurting yourself.
2. Know you’re not alone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of discouraged workers was up 70 percent to about 717,000 between the first three months of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
3. Expand your job search. You may not be finding a job because of the area you are looking in. You may want to widen the search to statewide or to another surrounding state. You could even expand to a nationwide search. Or, perhaps consider looking in another industry altogether that you hadn’t thought of originally. This opens you up to a lot of other options.
4. Don’t just apply to job postings you find online. Some companies may be hiring but don’t post their openings other than on the company Web site — or not online at all. Get out there and network — in person. (A great resource for job postings on company Web sites: LinkUp.com.)
5. Use LinkedIn’s companies section. LinkedIn will show you if you have any contacts at the company, jobs posted, and company stats. It should also provide a link to the company Web site. Reach out for an informational interview or job shadow. You never know where the opportunity might lead!
6. Contact three prospective employers each day. Research three companies that interest you. Then, send an e-mail to the person in charge of your area at those organizations, for example the head of public relations if you’re in PR. The e-mail should be a sort of mini cover letter.0:00 /00:48Targeting your next job
7. Network as often as possible. In-person or online, networking is a great way to find out about job openings. Also, networking in person gets you out of the house and can help you see your job search in a different light.
8. Be accountable to someone. Talk to someone who is interested in how your job search is going. This could be a significant other, family member, friend or peer. Talking to someone about your job search can help keep you confident because they know your skills and can help keep you motivated.
9. Participate in a job search support group. Yes, these do exist, and there a greater number more now than ever because of the struggling economy. If you don’t have one near you, you can always start your own. The members of your group will support each other and give suggestions in their job searches.
10. Start a journal. List all your fears and perceived barriers in your job search. Then, write out potential steps you can take to overcome your fears.

This post is part of the Career Collective effort founded by Miriam Salpeter and Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter. Other posts about overcoming job search struggles from the Collective include:

• @MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive
• @GayleHoward, Job Search: When It All Turns Sour
• @chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade
• @heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues
• @KCCareerCoach, You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-Energized
• @WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel
• @LaurieBerenson, Ways to Keep Your Glass Half Full
• @resumeservice, Don’t Sweat the Job Search
• @careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward
• @WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand
• @KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)
• @ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues
• @keppie_careers, What do do when you are discouraged with your job search
• @DawnBugni, It’s the little things
• @ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search
• @jobhuntorg, Just SO VERY Discouraged
• @barbarasafani, Making Job Search Fun (Yeah, That’s Right!)
• @GLHoffman, How to Overcome the Job Search Negativity
• @ExpatCoachMegan, Dealing With Job Search Stress: Getting to the Source of the Problem

Here’s what I read this week and recommend you do, too!

• Internal Hires, Referrals Were Most Hired in 2009
• The Students Guide to College Career Fairs
• How to win the job – interviewing with passion
• Still Unemployed? Here’s What You May Be Doing Wrong
• How to avoid job search frustration
• 5 Simple Rules Every Networker Should Follow
• What Does it Really Mean to “Get Ahead”?
• Ultimate interview tips
• Why Are Internships So Important?
• The High Price of Laying Off Younger Workers
• Tag You’re It, Gen Y
• What Do I Tell Them About My Layoff?
• Interview question: What people do you find it hard to work with?
• What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
• Demonstrating knowledge of a business’s operations impress a possible employer
• Never Write “To Whom It May Concern”

As Tom Cruise said in Jerry Maguire, “Help me help you.” I am now saying the same to you.

Help me help you.

I just received notice that my “day job” will be restructuring on May 1, and I very likely will not remain part of the team. While this is certainly a setback, it is also a tremendous opportunity.

I founded Come Recommended, LLC on December 22, 2008. It’s been a fun, wild ride so far – particularly given that it’s not my day job. In 2009, I helped more than 100 people land internships and entry-level jobs – that I know of. (Plenty of people don’t provide updates, unfortunately.) In 2010, I hope to blow that number out of the water!

But alas, I’ve reached a point where I can’t continue forward progress without your help.

Help me help you.

Since you’re reading this blog, I assume you are a jobseeker – or the family member or friend of one. (I suppose you could also be an employer. That’s great, too. Welcome!) I also assume you’d like me to see Come Recommended continue to blossom in order to help launch young careers (or attract and retain young talent, as the case may be) just as much as I do!

Help me help you.

“How can I help you help me?” I’m so glad you asked! There are a number of ways:

• Invite me to your school or organization to speak
• Buy one (or more) of my books
• Purchase one of my career coaching packages
• Hire me for a freelance/consulting PR gig – or point me in the direction of an opportunity
• Employers in D.C.: Utilize Come Recommended’s new GoodieRecruit service
• Become an investor in Come Recommended – or point me in the direction of someone who might be interested in such an opportunity (schedule time to chat)

Together, we can make this happen! Help me help you today.

I just returned from moderating Washington Women in PR’s “Mind the Gap” panel, and the conversation left me excited to return to my computer.

Near the end of the discussion, I asked each of the panelists (Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomer) how they felt about Millennials freelancing and/or doing contract work until they landed (or in lieu of) full-time entry-level jobs. A member of the audience argued they had no business doing so — they weren’t experienced enough.

“Experience” is such a loaded word, in my opinion. While accomplishments and experience are not necessarily mutually exclusive, you can certainly have “experience” and nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, you can have accomplished a lot in a short period of time.

Take, for example, Crystal C. Yan. She e-mailed me her elevator pitch to post on my blog surrounding Friday’s HAPPO. Here’s what she wrote:

“I tell your story like it is. You won’t be just tweeting out press releases and you’ll sound genuine on social media presences with my help. You need someone who speaks at conferences about engaging audiences through new media tactics, consults at a consulting firm for client organizations with 50 centers in the Bay Area, and who has done public relations work for: Rotary International, Kidango, Space Cookies, California Bay Section Future Business Leaders of America, Gumball Capital, and many more.”

Want to know how old she is? 17. Yeah, that’s right.

There’s a reason my bio doesn’t read exactly how many years I’ve been doing this. It’s not because I don’t have the numbers — it’s because I think my accomplishments speak louder than tenure/longevity ever will.

I mean, it is perfectly possible to be in the same job/industry for 20+ years and do an average or below average job the entire time. So, simply “having 20 years experience” is not enough, in my book. Talk (tenure) is cheap. Show me what you can do (and have done)!

What do you think?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard there’s a bit of a debate going on about health insurance. Should everyone be required by law to have it? Who foots the bill? And so on…

What I’m about to say isn’t political in nature, but now that you’ve graduated from college and aren’t covered under your parents’ plan, you need health insurance. Don’t think you’re invincible — because you’re not.

“But health insurance is complicated and confusing.” Yes, it is. That’s why I wrote Graduated, Unemployed & Un(der)insured: Why You Need to Stop What You’re Doing Right Now to Purchase Health Insurance and How to Pick the Provider & Plan Best for You. Throughout the pages of this e-book, you’ll learn your health insurance rights, what COBRA is, why you might want to consider graduate school, different plans offered by employers, short- and long-term insurance options, how to shop around for a policy and the potential impact of healthcare reform. It’s all here.

The regular cost is $19.99. However, between now and 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, February 20, 2010, it will cost you only $9.99 if you use the coupon code ‘HALFOFF‘ during checkout. (If you don’t see the Add to Cart button below, click on the cover image to the left.)

To view the table of contents and introduction for free, click here.

In addition to a $5 off coupon for the next e-book I write (a new one will be produced approximately every six weeks), purchasing this e-book today will guarantee you a copy of any future revisions. So, if a month from now there’s new information, you’ll receive an e-mail with the updated copy–for free!

To request a free review copy, please send an e-mail to pr@comerecommended.com.

Seth Godin says I’m a genius. I’m not sure yet whether I agree with him just yet.

If a genius is someone with exceptional abilities and the insight to find the not so obvious solution to a problem, you don’t need to win a Nobel Prise to be one. A genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck.

So the question is: Have you ever done that?

Yeah, I guess I have. At least I think so. Come Recommended was hatched out of a problem — two of them, actually. Employers often get tripped up during their own hiring processes by putting the important part — the candidate’s reputation — last. And candidates, particularly in today’s economy, don’t consider their potential employers’ reputations at all. The result? Everyone’s unhappy.

My solution: An exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers. How are the “best” determined? Both candidates and employers must receive at least three recommendations prior to accessing the community. And these are not LinkedIn recommendations — references must answer specific questions about the candidate/employer depending on their relationship with the requester.

No one is a genius all the time. Einstein had trouble finding his house when he walked home from work every day. But all of us are geniuses sometimes.

Maybe Seth is right. Perhaps I am a genius — certainly not all the time, but on occasion. I think my stroke of genius might have even struck a second time.

Linchpins are the essential building blocks of tomorrow’s high-value organizations. They don’t bring capital or expensive machinery, nor do they blindly follow instructions or merely contribute labor. Linchpins are indispensable, the driving force of our future.

Seth tells the story of a linchpin, Jason Zimdars. It took Jason a year to get a graphic designer job at 37signals. And they didn’t eventually hire him because of his résumé. Instead, he talked to them about their needs and how he could fill them. What’s more, he showed 37signals he’s more than just talk.

You are not your résumé. You are your work.

That brings me back to my second stroke of genius: GoodieRecruit. GoodieRecruit is a “next-generation recruiting service for the next generation” and is part of the Come Recommended family. The problem: We still use résumés to evaluate candidates, and this method proves ineffective over and over again. Organizations are missing out on linchpins because they are afraid of change.

Piloting in Washington, D.C., GoodieRecruit takes three parties — entry-level candidates, employers and nonprofits — and brings them together in a way I truly believe will be the recruiting method of the future. Here’s how I explain the process over on the GoodieRecruit blog:

• Employers: If you’d like to fill one or more entry-level positions (less than three years experience) in public relations, communications, public affairs, public policy, government affairs, marketing, graphic design, development, fundraising, sales or customer service, we will arrange for candidates (both within our Come Recommended network and outside of it) to come together for a half- or full-day “experience” and prove they have what it takes to receive an offer from your organization.
• Candidates: You are either a member of the Come Recommended network or another individual we’ve invited to participate in one of our half- or full-day “experiences.” You can expect to provide a cover letter and résumé before the event, be given a specific assignment or project to complete during the event on which you will be carefully evaluated, and record a 60-second “elevator pitch” for the prospective employer about why you are the right fit for the position after the event.
• Nonprofits: We know nonprofits can always use more volunteers, which is why we’ve chosen to partner with you to host our half- and full-day “experiences.” But don’t worry, we make all the arrangements! There is absolutely no cost to you — only benefit from the work performed by our candidates.

You’ll notice there’s still a résumé involved in the process, but that’s only because it will take come time to completely wean employers from requiring one.

I’m only a third of the way through Linchpin, so I’m bound to write at least one other post about the pearls of wisdom I uncover in its pages. But, for those struggling to find their place in the working world, let me leave you with this:

If you want a job where it’s okay to follow the rules, don’t be surprised if you get a job where following the rules is all you get to do.

If you want a job where the people who work for you do exactly what they’re told, don’t be surprised if your boss expects precisely the same thing from you.

If you want a job where you don’t need to be creative because the company’s cost structure is so aggressive that customers just materialize, don’t be surprised if the low cost structure costs you your job.

If you want a job where you get to do more than follow instructions, don’t be surprised if you get asked to do things they never taught you in school.

If you want a job where you take intellectual risks all day long, don’t be surprised if your insights get you promoted.

Please share your stories about being a genius and/or linchpin in the comments below.