What you write in your LinkedIn Update ("update box") can help or hurt you. Credible, career-oriented updates strengthen your "brand", while other comments can damage you and/or your job search. For the full list of "do's" and "don'ts", click here.

In the US, the September event called "back to school" is embedded in our culture. Schools open in late August through early September, around Labor Day, and colleges start classes at about the same time. The September-through-June "year" is part of our nature.

Unfortunately, too many job hunters wait for Labor Day to start their search, ignoring the advantages of job search in the summer. Those advantages? They mostly have to do with being with people: Reunions, weddings, retirement parties, family gatherings, concerts, sports and sports events. All are opportunities to network.

But there's also hiring going on. It's perilous to suspend your search or cut back on job search time when hiring is up. Oh, it's not sizzling, but it's been on the upswing all year and it doesn't stop just because it's summer. Employers want people comfortably in their new positions before Labor Day. Just about all my clients are interviewing, and those with offers or near offers have projected start dates between now and September.

So instead of waiting to do your search until September, do it now -- in July and August, be sure to schedule networking meetings, attend events, stay on track. Think of how great it will feel to be in your new job before "back to school"!

Joanne Meehl makes available materials that will give you some coaching, right off the page, at the Ignite Your Job Search Store! Click the link below. Want to know how to create a target list of employers? There's now a guide for that. Are you a college senior looking for a road map to a great job when you graduate? There's a guide for that, too. All at minimal prices, with a secure connection when you use a credit card to purchase.

You can even get live coaching time with Joanne here (at introductory rates that will more than pay you back when you use what you learn!).

Use your smartphone to get to the Ignite store, or when getting other downloads from the site, or to see Joanne's blog: just snap the QR code above with your smart phone to get right there.