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Kelly Donovan

Someone is impersonating me — how to stay safe

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Beware of imposters

I discovered this week that someone was impersonating me online, and I was extremely upset.

Someone reached out to me to say that he’d been in contact with someone using a Gmail address who was claiming to be me. When asked, the imposter claimed not to have a website. Fortunately, the would-be victim did some digging, found me, and didn’t fall for whatever the imposter was up to.

Please read on for tips for staying safe and making sure you’re dealing with me and not an imposter.

The #1 thing I want to emphasize is: I do NOT initiate contact for purposes of soliciting business.

What I mean by that is that I do NOT solicit business through unexpected emails, social media outreach, or other types of unsolicited contact.

I work with executives who initiate contact with me through this site (KellyDonovan.com), as well as employers who initiate contact with me through KDAoutplacement.com.

Why does this happen?

Impersonation scams have become very common; scammers regularly impersonate companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, as well as small to mid-sized businesses in various industries. Scammers do this so they can carry out all sorts of fraud, scams, and identity theft.

I’ve heard of this happening in my industry before, so it’s certainly not the first time, and it won’t be the last.

Differentiating real from fake

Here are some of the ways you’ll know if you’re dealing with me versus an imposter:

  1. The most important: If someone claiming to be me contacts you through social media, email, or phone/text and is soliciting your business, you should assume that this person is not me. This alone is enough.
  2. I only have two websites: this site (KellyDonovan.com) and KDAoutplacement.com; if you find any other site claiming to be us, it is fake.
  3. I only have one LinkedIn account (www.linkedin.com/in/kellydonovancprw); if anyone interacts with you through any other LinkedIn profile, it’s not me.
  4. As of now, I don’t use any other social media platforms for business; if anyone using my identity interacts with you through platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, etc., it isn’t me.
  5. I don’t email with clients or prospective clients using Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, iCloud, or any other similar email service.
  6. I don’t offer services to someone until after a detailed free consultation booked through this site.

I could have stopped my list at #1, but I included some additional insight. However, the most important principle is that I simply don’t do sales outreach, and I don’t engage online with strangers unless they initiated contact with me through through one of my two websites.

Do not provide any payments to anyone if you’re not 100% certain you’re dealing with me. 

If you encounter anyone claiming to be me and you aren’t sure or find it suspicious, please send me a message through my Let’s Talk page to notify me.

Keep in mind that you might encounter similar situations involving other people in my industry. The imposter impersonating me was using a generic executive resume email address, so I’m sure it gets used for impersonating others, as well.

Remember: I do NOT initiate contact for purposes of soliciting business.

This article first appeared on KellyDonovan.com

Kelly Donovan

Your trusted resume expert… a robot?

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is truly woven into the fabrics of our lives, including job search. Most mid-sized to large employers are using technology and AI tools in the recruiting and hiring processes, and there are also tools that job seekers can take advantage of, as well.

For example, one such tool that I introduce my clients to is Job Scan, which will compare your resume to a job description you’re going to apply for. This helps you tailor your resume to that specific job posting. Even if you’re working with a recruiter on a job not publicly advertised anywhere, this can still be handy.

In a future post I can explore the nuances of how this tool works and why tailoring is preferable to using the exact same document every time without any changes.

There are also other AI and technology tools that are more questionable and less helpful, of course. (Also worth exploring in future posts!)

For now, what I want to address is how to handle a robot’s advice. While AI is an amazing advancement, it also has its limitations.

Here’s the problem: software is only as good as the people who created it, and most robots we deal with in everyday life don’t excel at everything we throw at them.

For example, if you’re having a complicated marital problem, would Siri be a good source of advice? Probably not. She can find information on the Internet for you, but don’t expect her to give the kind of advice you could get from a marriage counselor or a friend who’s been married for 35 years.

Robots are lacking when it comes to analysis that requires common sense, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

Limitations of resume software

One of my executive clients ran her resume through Job Scan to tailor it for a job posting. A recommendation popped up saying that her resume was over the recommended length; however, what she didn’t notice was that it said “unless you are applying to executive jobs.”

Not only did the software not recognize that she was an executive-level candidate based on VP titles in her resume, but the software is simplistic with determining if the length is acceptable. If you’re one word over the software’s recommended word count, the robot says it’s too long; one word under, you’re good to go! Seriously? Bear in mind that there is no universal rule among employers for resume length, so this recommended word count is an opinion.

Let me be clear: the difference of a couple words isn’t going to disqualify your application when you apply for a job.

Sure, I see resumes all the time that are too long; executives will send me three-page and four-page resumes they’ve developed on their own, and these are almost always too verbose to be effective–nobody wants to read that much in an era of short attention spans. Guidance about keeping the length reasonable is certainly needed, but deleting an important bullet point to get a resume under the “magical” number a robot recommends is just silly.

These types of guidelines from an AI tool are usually based on best practices that are applicable to the lowest common denominator of people. Your needs might be slightly different, depending on your industry, level of seniority, target employer, target job, career history, and unique career situations.

You could think of it like government dietary guidelines. They’re based on what will probably work best for most people, but your needs might be slightly different if you’re an athlete, diabetic, celiac patient, or have a food allergy. In those instances, you could work with your physician, dietician, or trainer to determine what will be best for you.

Another odd glitch I’ve seen with this software is that in some cases it may say that the formatting of dates isn’t acceptable, even though in other instances it found the exact same date formatting to be fine (and I’ve tested the same date formatting in the most popular applicant tracking systems used by employers–Workday and Taleo–and it was fine, in addition to being consistent with best practices in my industry).

Handling a robot’s advice

At this point, advice from robots needs to be taken with a grain of salt. This is one reason it makes sense to work with a professional on your  resume. You can get input from a human based on their experience helping other clients land positions.

Speaking of humans, that’s actually how most people land great jobs–not by applying online for an advertised opening. I’ve written in the past about navigating networking introductions (as a relationship-based job search approach) and problems with advertised openings.

It’s usually relationships that lead to the best opportunities–particularly at an executive level–and relationships help you get beyond the herd of 100+ other applicants who will likely be applying for those advertised openings along with you. Having a referral from an employee helps you snag an interview in these competitive situations.

The bottom line: AI job search tools range from useless to helpful, but even when they’re helpful (like Job Scan), you also need to balance their advice with the opinions of human experts and your own common sense. Oh, and while you’re at it, please don’t replace your marriage counselor with Siri. 😉

This article first appeared on www.KellyDonovan.com

Kelly Donovan

Why I have to say “no” to prospective clients

It usually happens about once a week or so: someone will approach me inquiring about my services and I end up referring them to an industry colleague (ie., competitor).

There are many reasons for these referrals that all boil down to the client not being the best fit at that point in time:

  • Not having a specific job target in mind. Being uncertain about what type of jobs to seek.
  • A profession or subject matter that I consider “out of my wheelhouse.” A big one is technical subject matter–such as chemical engineering–but this also includes any topic where I’m not sure how I can make the information compelling enough to provide true value for the money the client is paying me.
  • A goal of landing a federal job, which is not something I help with.
  • A timeline faster than what I can accommodate; I won’t cut corners, and it’s very difficult to deliver bespoke LinkedIn profile writing and executive resume writing without having adequate time to work on it.
  • Having less than five years of professional experience. I only work with new grads if they are children of past clients.
  • In rare cases, being burned out with that particular subject matter if I’ve worked on several similar projects back-to-back (this has only happened a couple times). You deserve someone who is genuinely excited.
  • A budget too small for my fees. I don’t feel that it’s right to convince someone to spend more than they can afford.

In all of these cases, I’m not the best person to help, and I certainly don’t want to waste the person’s time.

What I do when a client isn’t the right fit

So I’m happy to recommend other people and companies I know, whether it’s a career coach to get clear on a job target, a resume and LinkedIn profile writer who specializes in that particular profession, a federal job consultant, or a company that can do a faster turnaround while still providing high-quality work.

Some would call these other companies my competitors, but I think of them as industry colleagues; sometimes they refer business to me and sometimes I refer business to them. It’s a win-win; we get the projects that are best for us, and we help the clients get the providers that are best for them.

I’ve learned from experience that I do my best work when I stick to projects where I know I can hit it out of the park. If I don’t feel confident I can hit it out of the park, I’ll be honest with you–I owe you that much!

This article first appeared on www.KellyDonovan.com

Kelly Donovan

Am I the right fit for you?

One of the most important aspects of finding an executive resume writer, LinkedIn profile writer, and/or career coach is making sure that you and the provider are a good fit for each other. That will ensure that you both enjoy the experience and will greatly increase the chances of the outcome you’re hoping for.

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