get your feet wet

Howdy online friends and neighbors. It’s about that time. We’re heading into exciting stuff. [side note, I love the word STUFF. it covers so much STUFF. nothing is left out when you use the word STUFF] What stuff are we headed into, you might ask? Our personal online profiles, dear friends - the digital versions of ourselves. The electronic blips and beeps that come to represent each of us as a unique flavor on the web. Who shall we be today? I suggest we jump aboard the Good Ship Employment and sail into the waters of Internet profiles.

Let’s start from the idea that we are able to create an online likeness of ourselves that exists somewhere in the computer cosmos. Although we might be sitting on a beach looking at the Gulf of Mexico, our online personalities or profiles are hard at work representing who we are and what we want in that parallel computer universe.

There are a handful of different ways you can be manifested on the web. Maybe you’re a text based like the web resume I showed you before. Could be that you are an image and some personal info or you could be a straight up avatar. [totally not plugging my brothers current CG work on JC’s Avator or anything, but if you’re really interested…] You can be anyone online! For now let’s keep the conversation within a professional context. Don’t Tron out on me.

I recently talked to one of the HR folks over at Simon & Schuster to see if we could get a little insight about what HR departments are thinking. Lynnette Lebron shared with me her thoughts about professionals and job searchers having a “live self”. Lynnette warns that people need to be cautious about how they represent themselves online. She suggests not to over inform, but don’t remain isolated either. Lynnette had some great additional pointers in the online job search area but we’ll circle back to that later in the week.

The Washington Post has a good article about being aware in this area: Maintaining an Online Profile -- and Your Professionalism. OMG note – I have a classmate who works at an very large media company and she has personally seen her boss chuck out potential job candidates who have unacceptable (all party/no professional) online profiles. Take the time to establish yourself. Use friends, family, and trusted professionals to check out what you have created and if it works to represent who you are.

Ok crew, we gotta start somewhere,  so bust out those resumes and let’s get to work. Your homework for the week: establish your ‘online profile’ on three different career sites. I suggest Monster, CareerBuilder, and Yahoo! HotJobs. I must warn you that this will take an entire afternoon to establish and populate completely. Grab a pop [yes, I’m from the mid-west originally], use the bathroom, and find a comfortable chair – you’ve got work to do!

Already hit those sites and looking for an alternative posting location? Try your local craigslist. There is a Resume section or consider the Services section to post your online skills and abilities. This is all free, folks. Here’s a screen shot of when I posted - last listing at the bottom:

Next stop, social networking sites and more fun STUFF!

take the ball and run with it

It’s time. Time to put down the remote control. Time to put your iTunes music organization project on hold. Time to be in action. Think back to what we have been through, my 18 blog following buddies! After we met online we talked about a number of career obstacles and opportunities, like what difficult times we’re facing on the front lines of unemployment. We considered what life would look like if we had a career coach. We even dabbled in continuing education. But in the end, y’all, we’ve got to put down the snackie cake and get a move on. We can do it together. Hold hands as we cross the information super highway. Next stop – research and preparation.

Let’s be clear about what we want here. Make a list of what you want in exchange for a paycheck every week. Take a look at your past experiences and see what worked for you and what didn’t. We can’t launch into action looking for something if we are unclear about what we are searching for. For example, I would flounder in a job that didn’t challenge me. I need fast paced environments and to be surrounded by people that are thinkers, creators, and committed to open communication. That declaration itself automatically eliminates a ton of industries, jobs, and companies that would not be a good fit for me. Think about it for yourself. Know where you need to go.

For those of you sitting at a computer terminal in an Internet café, put another five bucks on your machine tab because it’s research time. Jump onto companies web sites. Check out their About Us, Media, or Press Room sections. Companies might seem like giant faceless entities, but behind those corporate glass doors are people just like you and me.

Clearly, company web sites will tell you simply wonderful things about the organization but don’t stop your search there. What is the rest of the world saying about the company you are thinking about working for? Check out news and information sites, recent articles and online profiles. For this, head to Hoover's or Vault. A little light reading could also come from picking up a (public) company's annual report. Super fast short cut: Google them.

A quick way to put your ear to the ground is to check out career groups and forums. Craigslist has sprung up everywhere. Start listening to your job market area today, click here for NYC.

If you are a percent person – I’ll leave you with this:
CareerBuilder.com's survey "2009 Job Forecast"

• 19 percent of workers' New Year's resolutions include finding a new job. The same amount plan to leave their current job by the end of the year.
  
• 47 percent of workers planning to find a new job this year cite better compensation and/or career advancement opportunities as their primary reasons. 
• 8 percent want to venture into a completely different career than their current ones. 
• 80 percent of workers claim they aren't actively looking for a new job, but they would be open to one if the right opportunity presents itself.
  
• 35 percent of workers did not receive a raise in 2008.
• 80 percent of workers did not ask for or receive promotions.
• 54 percent of workers say that their workloads have increased over the last six months.
• 20 percent of employers say they take two months or longer to fill their open positions. 
  
• 23 percent of employers will decrease their recruitment budgets this year.
  
• 19 percent will devote more recruitment dollars to online hiring, such as generalist sites, niche boards and local job boards.