value-added

"Two remarkable figures: 96% of students

and graduates who plan their

next career move go online to look for

information about employers and career

opportunities. And out of these,

89% use the career websites of companies.

That makes company career

websites the number 1 place to go for

job seekers, even more important

than job and career portals or business

and social networks. " -

Top Employer Web Benchmark 2009

The Corporate Career Website Study

What are you waiting for? Get crackin'!

you load my gun for me and I'll shoot

Ooooo, a new way in!

From Cheezhead this week: employees earn money with one-click

Streaming social media outta Cally: A Conference on Social Recruiting Tools

Keep on keepin' on friends!

on the move

Is there a rise? MediaBistro clamis so:

Jobs Posted Online Last Month First Increase In Six Months

Does this sound right to you?

lead, follow or get out of the way

We are a dedicated bunch. We love the internet. We shop, we plan, we communicate our online hours away. If you thought you could get away from social networking, think again. SNS are making a play to stay. Today, with recent insights from the recruiting industry, we have new reasons to love these connector sites. 

Shannon hails from a large staffing company here in NYC. In addition to being an American Idol fan, she is also a fan of sites like LinkedIn. I asked Shannon to share her thoughts and feeling about how to use the SNSite LinkedIn as a tool in our online search for work. Her suggestions are as follows:

1. It's imperative that you have a profile. If someone is aware of your skills and abilities but has no way of getting ahold of you - where do you think they are going to look? If you don't have a profile and they can't find you... NEXT!

2. Consider yourself as a brand. Use LinkedIn to market yourself similarly to how you would use a site to market a product or service. Be your own CEO.

 

3. Don't just create a profile and peace out - get in and stay active. Reach out and make connections with all your old co-workers. Tell them about recent project work that you have completed. For those connections that you value, make a recommendation about your experience together. Ask if they will do the same for you. Check out the Q&A section. Post and respond to issues that you have experience in or are passionate about. Stay fresh, stay relevant. 

4. Don't go beyond second degrees of an introduction. Just like the Kevin Bacon game, if you go beyond the known source you're busted and there's no connection. Keep traditional networking rules in mind. Have someone you know (one degree) introduce you. Grow the relationship from there.

5. Last SNS point Shannon has is a Twitter bit. Find your fav executive and become a follower. Knowing what your target contacts are looking at and listening to gives you a better idea of their world. Following is also a conversation point to share over LinkedIn.

There it is folks. From the pros. Listen, learn, get online.

The world is yours. Click to it.

a good rule of thumb is

Have you ever had a conversation with yourself that sounded something like this?

Hum… I want to apply for this job position but they are looking for five years experience. I guess if I add up all my time here and all my time there it would count. Let’s see, they are looking for a manager. I wasn’t necessarily a manager but I worked with one often so that’s kinda similar. They are also looking for a candidate that has a college degree, which I have but they would like to hire someone who’s academic focus was in something I only had one class in. I guess I’ll leave it blank and maybe they will assume it’s covered. 

Yikes, this next part says they want the person to do this, this, and that. Arg. I only did one of those things [and actually I didn’t really like it but I love this company and I would really like to work for them] so maybe I will reference my responsibilities in a general way as to associate my experience with what they are looking for. How much did I make at my last job? [I want to make more, I want to make more] I made $75,000. [I made $60,000] They will never know.

Can you count the number of ethical upsets here? Have you been in this position before? Do you even notice anymore when you have a slight shift in the truth? I bet you do. I bet your body notices. I bet no matter if you have altered the truth once or a thousand times, your heart gets a little heavy every time. Listen to that uneasy and awkward feeling friends! Be true to yourself and your future employers. Tell the truth about who you are, what you have done, and what you would like to do.

In Job Search Ethics: Don’t Lie, Deborah S. Hildebrand looks at a survey done by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) on the most common resume lies. Might recognize these from our internal conversation above:

• Inflated titles
  
• Incomplete or inflated degrees
  
• Inflated salaries
  
• Inflated accomplishments
  

It’s been hard out there people to get a gig but compromising your integrity folks is not the way to go. We are all being tested right now with slim to none pickins for positions. If a company hires you because you came off more inflated and qualified then you are, that is only going to lead to disappointment on both sides when you really can’t do the job right.

Doing the right thing covers more then just correctly portraying yourself on your resume. There is any number of ethical job search dilemmas out there. In this PDF by Vassar Collage, you can see a couple of different scenarios that can happen to anyone. Proper advice is offered after each inquiry but check it out – what would you do?

This isn’t a one-way street. Employers need to be employing best practices as well. According to the NACE guidelines, as a job seeker, you have the right to expect the following from employers:

• Confidentiality
  
• Accurate information
  
• Freedom from undue pressure 
  
• Timely communication
  
• Fair treatment in the case of changing conditions requiring a revoked job offer
  
• Testing information 
  
• Nondiscrimination

The flip here is that potential employers are also expecting you to:

• Provide accurate information 
  
• Interview genuinely 
  
• Adhere to schedules 
  
• Communicate in a timely fashion 
  
• Accept job offers in good faith 
  
• Withdraw from recruiting when you have accepted a position 
  
• Claim fair reimbursement 
  
• Obtain the information that you need to make the best career decisions
  

Job of your dreams = doing the right thing.

strike while the iron is hot

People, people, people. How the heck are you? Me… I’m good. Thanks for asking. I, like the weather, am making a change. Out with the jobless winter and in with the employed, new spring. Don’t jump ahead of me here. I didn’t get an offer YET but it’s close ~ sooooo close. I can feel it.

For me spring-cleaning is in order. This is no basic clean up job we’re talkin’ here. I am moving! Yup, leavin’ my digs of six plus years and witnessing the mayhem of moving. Not going far ~ only seven or so miles. Where am I going with this topic you ask? Good question. I’ll get there in a sec.

Do you know if you have bad credit landlords can decide not to rent to you? Do you know if you have bad credit Home Depot does not have to extend you a credit card to buy stuff to fix up your new place? Do you know if you have bad credit utility companies will charge you a deposit because you are a financially risky customer? [last one I swear] Do you know that you can get turned down for a job because you have bad credit?!

So you might have known those first three BUT the fact that employers run credit checks on potential employees is a BIG DEAL. Accountability for everything in your life starts with you. In this scenario, your financial life is talking to your professional life. Is it a good conversation for you? Check it out.

Once you have made it through the interview rounds and you’re in the middle of the process – it’s important you know what to do and what to ask for. Of course you have now checked out your credit so there’s no scare there but what other issues are you going to face during the pre-job offer period?

Negotiations between you and your (cross your fingers) new boss are a critical time in determining where you start and what you’re worth. As Stuart Smalley would remind us, your good enough, your smart enough, and doggone it, they're going to hire you! This link is industry specific but I think it offers a good shake down on how you should be thinking during the negotiation process in addition to pointers on what you could be asking for from an employer.

A site I would like to direct you to and leave you with today is the Salary.com site. Man do I love this puppy. It totally tells me how much I could be making in XYZ job based in XYZ location. It’s fun info. A good resource tool but honestly I have never found myself accurately portrayed in the average data numbers. See what it says about you…


PS – for all you students out there, LinkedIn just launched a student job search effort on the social (professionally oriented) networking site. For more info on social networks check out the last blog posting 

> let’s get our arms around it.

the ball is in your court

Have you ever had an interview like the one shown above? I hope so [it would be so funny to experience] but at the same time I hope not [how the heck would you get though it]. Today I think we should talk about THE INTERVIEW. Here’s the deal. I know we are all at different stages in the job search process but I would like to address this area for those of you who are ready and/or create this as a real and near future for you folks who are almost there.

To start this conversation, I would like to say there is a lot out there. In my research for this posting I felt overwhelmed and inundated with all the different “experts” I found online. My hope with this blog is to peel back the crap and find a few [free] online resources for us to utilize. If you have deep pockets and don’t mind paying for help – great! There are paid for solutions for you. The guys over at Pongo have a [pay for] service that provides an online training program. There are 40 interactive audio/visual training modules that guide and prepare you for each step of the interview process.

If you DON’T have an open wallet then come with me. I found a couple other places that can help. First up, the So You Wanna web site. I love these guys. They can help you with everything from throwing a bachelor party to joining the circus. In our case, they can get us on our way to acing the job interview in five steps.

I used to sell ads. One time in training the coach told us not to practice selling on our customers. I think the same applies here. Don’t practice your interview skills on potential employers. Call your family, sit down with a friend, heck sit in front of a mirror and practice! Depending on your school situation, past or present, you might be able to set up a mock interview. Here’s a link to show you an example from my under grad edu.

Our resident HR superstar JC offers a few interview words of wisdom. “After you get an interview, it is important to know as much as you can about a company. Read the job description that you applied to. Understand the skills they are looking for and be prepared to discuss your expertise in those areas.

In addition, it is in your best interest to learn as much about the company that you are interviewing as possible. Use your network (if possible) to find out some information. Go to the company’s website, and learn about their products or services. Do a Google search with the company’s name, and see what information comes up.”

Maybe you are quite familiar with this whole process but you would like to brush up on some of the questions you might get asked. Won’t hurt to hear how these questions should be answered either, a? If you are nodding yes then this site is for you. [note, you will have to salom navigate down the page and around paid search ads to get through the content]

If you need it from the beginning and in complete form then CT’s Dept. of Labor is ready to help you. Their web site offers a rather comprehensive shake down on all things interviewing. If you only read that, you won’t go wrong.

One last resource for ya. Once you have read EVERYTHING and you are plugging along this site can help you keep track of What by When. Did you promise Larry from Rubber Duck Company that you would circle back Monday or Wednesday? This site can help.

PS – Got a great informational interview story to share with ya. Check out the posting comments>>A win-win situation

it's the 80/20 rule at work here folks

Work with me on this one. WHAT IF you were stuck in a room and you needed to get a job and the only resource you had was a computer that had internet access? What would you do? How would you reach out? Would you be able to land a job? That is the point of this blog. Ye old career search using just the internet. Found one more step for ya to make those e-employment dreams come true.

One word people. Virtual career fair. Ok fine, that’s three words but it’s ONE great idea. Just for a moment think about the cons of having to go to a real live career fair. Gotta look good and find the place. Gotta shell out dollars to get the resume ready. My all time fav. is standing in line waiting to talk to someone from a prospective employer. When you finally get to talk to them they look like they want to kill themselves if they have to shake one more hand. People forget those crowded fairs! Stay home. Send electronic resumes. “Shake hands” over the internet while you lounge in your PJs.

How does this online search tactic play out? I have five simple steps for you. Check them out here at eHow.com’s How to Attend a Virtual Job Fair. To lazy to read? [seriously, if that’s true – you really have a problem] Consider listening to this podcast about how the whole thing works from Secrets to the Job Hunt.

If I have piqued your interest then check out these links. 

Virtual Job Fair:
By location or employer>>
By industry>>
For students>>

Quick application note, I have had many of the interviewees of this blog say that candidates tend to over apply to positions. The overall recommendation is to find the one position with the best fit for you and go for it. Don’t apply to the same company for several positions.

We'll get there don't worry. 

let's think out of the box

To: The Universal Hiring Manager
From: BKLYN Nikki
Subject: Please give me a job.
CC: any other mythical creatures that create good luck

Dear Universal Hiring Manager,
My name is Nikki and I am looking for a job. I’m a good person that pays her taxes [yikes – I’ve still got a week to do this, right?!] and helps old ladies across the street. I’ve had my share of good and bad employers but right now I need a break! Please if there is a God of Employment – I am prepared if you have just been waiting to send me an opportunity. I am ready. Please bring it on. Thank you.

Your trusted follower,
-Nikki

PS – I can sacrifice a chicken [or a street cat, there’s lots around here but they are kinda mean] if that would speed things up and appease you.

Alright, alright. I can hear you.

“Nikki that won’t work. You silly lady. Praying to the Employment Gods – HA!”

I’ll have you know that I’ve tried everything thing else. Faith is all I have left. Well… faith, the Internet, and the will to go on.

Fine. Let’s keep moving. What else we got?

Have you ever considered working for the man? Maybe a job working for the government is a way to go. One summer I worked for a cities Parks and Recreation department. There are some good benefits there. Although not like working for an employer that’s international!

I have a handful of friends here in the city that have or currently work for over sea employers. THAT’S the way to go if you are looking for time off. You get the US AND the European vacation schedule. It’s like working only a couple weeks each year.

Seriously though, there are many multicultural opportunities out there. Inside the states and outside. Heck to take an example in my own media industry life – the Hispanic population is one of the fastest growing consuming audiences out there. If you or I decided to dedicate ourselves to serving this growing demographic many more job opportunities could present themselves.

There is also the green focus. I am happy to see that companies have decided to increase their positive involvement in the world’s environmental well being. Regardless if it’s a PR ploy or a legitimate business sector, this new area of research and resources is not to be looked over.

If you are not the siesta type or don’t have a green thumb then perhaps Doing Good has more of an appeal. At IdeaList there are any number of ways to apply yourself to the greater good. Looks like they have over one million profiles on the site so it’s gotta be a good conversation to jump into. If not, consider the over four thousand job openings. They also offer a job fair which just happens to be our next stop on the job express! Tune in next time for more info.

BKLYN Nikki OUT.

barking up the wrong tree

Health, medicine, business admin, law, and information technology are all industries that have predicted growth. Or at least, that’s what I’m reading. Personally, I don’t have the patience or grace to work with the sick, and I lack the memorization skills for medicine. Participated in a law club at school and got creamed in cross-examination [mainly b/c I didn't prepare for the case as I was so busy starring into the dreamy eyes of opposing council]. That leaves me with business admin and info tech. Although I have dabbled in both sides, neither are of great calling.

One great fear I have always had is that I start working in a job that I consider a 'For the Time Being' job. A job that pays my bills. A job that has me participating as an active member of society. A job that keeps me tethered to an industry that I have no interest in, but decades later I have, low and behold, an established Career.

Just so we are all on the same page, I am thirty-two. I have a decade of work experience behind me. It is MY fear that I could wake up a week from retirement and find I have wasted myself in a Career I only started in because I needed to pay bills when I first got going.

[sad retirement note. I recently drove back to Cleveland to see my folks. they are, as usual, overworked at each of their places of employment. here’s where the sad note comes in. set to retire in a year or so, they now have to add several years to their working commitment because their 401k and other retirement accounts took such a hit in the financial market. *sigh*]

OMG. Could this get any more depressing? Here’s the difference we have - the power of choice. At this moment, we can powerfully choose the industry we want a career in. A good place to start that inquiry is at the US Dept. of Labor. Their career guide to industries shares up-to-date info on: occupations in the industry, training and advancement, earnings, expected job prospects, and working conditions.

One last HR note from our friend Jeff Comerford. “The current job market is tough. There are many companies that are laying off people, but there are industries that are growing too (right now there are technology companies that are doing well, there is a nursing shortage, etc.). A lot of things in this country are fueled by confidence. The stock market, consumer spending, etc. Obviously, these things will also impact company’s ability to maintain market share or grow – which will directly impact employment. I think that right now, people are reading all of the bad news and they are scared. That means they are less likely to buy that new car, tv, go on vacation, etc. This obviously impacts jobs in those sectors.”

Here's one last online industry resource for you to mull over before you go off and do something else with your time. Check out what the folks over at Deloitte have published - 2009 Industry Outlook. They have looked into over a dozen top industries to see what’s going on and if there will be opportunity within this years industry tumult. Look to see if there is an area that can help you have a better understanding of where you would like to go. Let me know what you find.

Until next time – peace.

finally in your element

Do you have a dream team of employers? Maybe for you it’s just that ONE company you have always yearned to work for. My brother is a CG animator, so as you can imagine, Pixar is that place for him. I am trying to figure out who that company is for me.

What I like to do is match advertisers up with their customers on the web. Usually this means working for a publisher or media company. My current inquiry is to find a major content developer or media company that has a diverse demographic audience that advertisers would like to reach in the internet space.

BUT how do I find that one working environment, that one super boss, that one stellar crew of co-workers? First up, I figure we should look at who the best or most recognized players are. This list of Top Companies is a good start. Looking for inspiration or know who you would like to target? CareerTV has great employer profile videos for you to check out. You can find them listed in the left navigation bar under - By Company. If you don’t know someone on the inside that can give you a behind the doors tour, then these sneak peek videos are a great way to go.

OR you could be one of the lucky ones that does have an inside track to the employer of your dreams. If so, get crackin’! You got people to meet and questions to ask. Go back and review our posting on informational interviews.

BECAUSE I love you guys so much, I’ll share with you the source of my mystery interview from the last posting and her thoughts about the current standing of her awesome company.

Rosa Allen is in the HR department for the MillerCoors brewing company. Here she tells us about working for the parent company that offers brands like Coors Light, Peroni, Miller, and Miller Genuine Draft.

"My opinion is that the situation at my company is solid and stable. The company is performing as planned and forecasted and is in a good position financially, product-wise and in its market. Although sales had been on a dropping tendency for the last few years, the sales for 2008 and 2009 actually seem to be increasing. The company used to be solely Coors and since July of 2008 fused in a joint venture with Miller. So basically our company is twice as large and has twice as many resources that they did before. 

There have been various job cuts recently; however, they are not at all related to the economy, they are all products of synergies and consolidation of resources between the two companies. Some positions were duplicated during the joint venture process and had to be eliminated to cut out unnecessary manpower. All in all, I feel the company is stable and will not face any hardships either financially or with its brands in the market. People basically drink anyways; it doesn’t seem to matter if the economy is doing well or not."

There you have it. Good or bad, people keep boozin’. Maybe we should just get a job at our favorite liquor company. Hey, Brooklyn Brewery, you hiring?

it's on your radar screen

Don’t you just love watching movies that have a character looking for a job - where they’re opening a newspaper and circling potential job openings with a big old red marker? The closest I can get to that these days is book marking the darn thing and putting a red ppt oval around it. Sigh, I miss the olden days of print. [internet, you didn’t hear me say that. I love you 2. darn it. I think that print comment already got search engine indexed. I am so much lower in my own blog search results! the internet hates me!]

Coming from someone who can’t figure out where her hours are going everyday – I swear, it’s a full-time job getting a full-time job. Do you know how many entries come up when you go to Google and search: job search? 199,000,000 entries pop up and I am going through ALL of them for you, my 27 blog following buddies. OK, that’s not true, but still, you can see how the web can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe we should let a pro guide us…

You remember our HR master and commander, Jeff Comerford. Here Jeff takes a look at two different sites – the profit and the not for profit. “If you are going to look for jobs that are advertised, a great place to look is Indeed.com. Indeed.com is basically a search engine for jobs. Enter your job title (general or specific) and a geographic location, and it will show you recently posted jobs. There is also a way to narrow down your search, based on potential salary and other criteria. If you are looking at non-profit opportunities, you can go to a website like Guidestar.com. This will give you access to the non-profit’s 990 – which is their annual tax form. It gives information like their revenue, top 5 highest paid employees, and the number of employees making over 50k. Let’s face it, if you are looking to make $60k, and the executive director makes $70k, this non-profit may not be big enough for you.”

There are also many sites out there that are aggregators of industry specific job postings. I happen to like my grad school’s online resources. On the Columbia site I can check out media/communication job links. They also have an advertising/marketing resource list that points to more inside info and job listings. Columbia or any college can provide resource lists for industries that you are interested in - regardless if you are a student of theirs or not. Hellooo, it's online. Another example in the media world is MediaBistro. In this portion of our job search, let’s start big [industry/aggregators] and go small. 

Feeling a little Down With The Man? There’s even a link for you, “…there are thousands of jobs listed on (Rat Race Rebellion) that offer people free-lance or direct employment jobs that can be performed off-site, remotely or in a personal office. Some companies even provide good benefits to their employees or contractors. The entire resume, application and interview process is conducted online, or in some cases by phone.” Readers, stay tuned - the source of this mystery interview to be revealed next time!

run this one up the flagpole

Monster, CB (CareerBuilder) and the other online job search big boys are big for a reason. They do have some cool job search toys to play with. Consider CB’s iPhone app. Lucky iPhone owners can bust out this app on the bus ride home from their super fun jobs to see what better positions are open in the neighborhoods they are traveling through. All thanks to the Apple geo-location capabilities. Go Mac. Head to iTunes and download today! Maybe you have been holding out for the perfect job widget. My friends, HotJobs has answered your prayers. Your desktop job search just got easier. Heck, even Facebook has a ton of job assistance applications to add to your profile. Applications or widgets, these e-tools are here to help make your job search time more streamlined and targeted. Make sure to tailor each to your preferences.

But wait! There’s more….

Another tool I find to be particularly useful are email alerts. Not to be confused with marketing messages, these tailored lists can be a quick update during your search. All the big boys provide these emails. What I suggest is finding a company that you would like to work for and signing up for their career openings notification. Note, this e-communication is usually only offered for large to mid-sized companies. This might not be offered by small businesses. 

PS - if you are more of an RSS person over emails then consider getting a companies RSS job feed. Here is an example of TW's RSS. 

that dog won't hunt

It is no surprise that after moving to NYC for a few years and wanting the company of a gentleman caller, I decided to get onto Match.com. [I have to admit that I was looking forward to moving to an island of lots of men. little did I know it was more like the island from Lord of the Flies!] Sure there was some online flirting, but really the end result? Nothin’. Zip. Zero. I swear those are the same feelings I have about using the major online job sites. 

There’s a listing and you are all oh man, oh man, oh man – this is just what I am looking for! I’ll respond with how well I fit the bill. Either dream job or man of my dreams ends up as the same [sucks to your asmar] disappointment. Too many folks responding for the one job or one dude. No, seriously, think about it. How many people do you know that got the big prize for using a big job site or a big dating site? Honestly, I don’t know anyone who got hitched from Match or employed from Monster. [in my opinion, Monster should have been the name of the dating site – yup, it’s that fun] For those of you who have yet to be disappointed [by dudes – you’re lucky] by job sites - then let me recap where the trail of broken hearts starts.

Monster.com - Hotjobs.com - Careerbuilder.com

I recently got some great insights from a well-versed HR leader who’s been in the biz for many years. Here’s what Jeff Comerford had to say about the big job sites: “Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, Careerbuilder.com, etc. These are your more traditional job boards. Something to keep in mind is that for each of the positions posted, there may be over a hundred responses. If you are going to use these methods, make sure to use a cover letter that explains why you are a match for the position that you are applying to. Showing a link to what they are looking for is a great way to increase your chances of getting an interview.”

Just like Match, Friendster [don’t think we’ve mentioned them yet. sigh, they were my first major SNS] or Monster.com – ya gotta have a profile. Hopefully you did the homework from Get Your Feet Wet and put up a profile of yourself on the big job networks. The three things that I use these massive job sites for is to one, maintain a professional profile so that employers can find me; two, search job listings; and three, buff up on my latest career best practices. 

If you are wondering, I am more a Monster girl over the others. Personally I find CB (CareerBuilder) to be wrought with ads and opportunities for me to upgrade to some paid version of the site. Even the CB site and email communications are heavy on the Google text ads making it difficult and distracting to find job search info. [note to websites that use Google Ad Sense – layout your sites and communications so that users can get to what they want right away! don’t start the page off with ads and bury the content. bad websites. bad, bad, bad!] Both Monster and CB have a ton of job search info, which I find very helpful, as you’ve seen from the links I have shared so far. Kinda like how I take my religion - I use a little bit from everyone. That’s the backbone of this blog.

a win-win situation

And now, dear friends and followers, we come to a most important recommendation. It just so happens that Amy [a commenter from the previous posting AND an AWNY member ~ hey, hey, hey] has set the conversation topic for the day – make it a point to meet your network connections. Before we launch into that, I just want to remind everyone that I am trying to keep within the frame of the blog topic/mission, which is to locate a job using only a computer/the internet. I completely agree with Amy that meeting face-to-face is the number one way to go, but for now we’ll keep communications web based – online phone calls, Skype, and email. And away we go…!

I’ll start off with the oh-so-smart Lynnette Lebron from Simon & Schuster. During our call a few weeks ago, she dropped that HR departments are “actively recruiting” candidates. Lynnette and her team are “at the helm and ready to go”. When a position opens up and a candidate is needed - they have cherry-picked the best folks for the gig. Nice! How do we become one of these at the ready representatives? Lynnette’s advice is to conduct “exploratory interviews”. Get into the ear of an employer. Start the dialogue for a potential new future. Lynnette says she knows a sincere candidate when she sees one. Another good tidbit Lynnette shares: during an informational interview, “ask for more internal references”. Expand your chances.  Clever, eh?!

Need a little helping hand? This online pdf from FSU [man, I love acronyms] is just what you need. The easy-to-read guide walks you though finding contacts, preparing for an informational interview, questions to consider asking, actually arranging the interview, and of course, follow up.

Have you ever participated on either side of the informational interview process – interviewER or interviewEE? Let’s hear from you…

cast a broad net

I rambled on about AWNY in the previous post because I wanted to share with you my experience of a great local professional network. There are soooo many different kinds of these groups out there - you just need to look around and find the ones that have a proper fit for you. For me, this also includes networking with my academic institutions of Ohio and Columbia University.

Within those two schools, there are many networking groups like college groups, alum groups, and career placement groups [this link takes you to a FAB career newsletter for Columbia grads - look for one from your school!] Still within association of the schools, but sitting on the SNS side, are the Facebook and LinkedIn profiles of OU and Columbia – still more groups! 

Side note about finding groups/associations on SNS (Social Networking Sites). Be aware that you might join a group that is not the “real” organizations profile. Although there might be a lot of members, which is good, it might have started outside the formal organization. If you want the real deal – check with the actual group as for its whereabouts.

Even my sorority Delta Gamma has a ton of sub-groups like my original Zeta Rho chapter, my old Cleveland chapter, and my recent tri-state area alum group. All potential contact points for employment!!!

All the groups I have just mentioned are merely a portion of the associations I have, and an excellent starting place to reach out and get the employment conversation rolling. As of this posting, there are twenty-eight followers to this blog [thank you, by-the-way!]. It doesn’t take a secret handshake to make US into a group and a network. Put up those comments, people, to start sharing the outlets and resources in your lives. Ya never know, opportunity could just be waiting for you to click - SEND.

don't burn your bridges

A lot of people find opportunities in life through people they know.  Not having the nepotism card to play, I've been relying on personal and professional contacts to search for a job. I belong to the Advertising Women of New York group, AWNY for short. Joined about six years ago. This group has given back to me in so many ways that I can hardly keep my typing fingers from running ahead of my whirling and grateful thoughts. I’ll start with the most recent experience and digress from there.

I have always wanted to work for Google but I have never been able to get the timing right with a position and availability. Rewind to a few weeks ago, when we started researching companies we would like to work for – queue Google to the top of my list, and low and behold, they have a position. After having already worked over my resume from our resume posting, I still end up spending a whole day re-framing my experience for the position I was already well suited for.

Here’s where the network connection kicks in. I go online to the AWNY web site and search for all the members [mostly women] that work for Google. My search yields over two dozen connections with women who work at Google. I email them all. My message was simple. Hi. I don’t know you, but we are AWNY members and I’m hoping you will help out a fellow professional in this difficult employment time. Can you please circulate my resume? Note, this is not verbatim what I said, but almost ten members responded. Email message replies varied.

Got one sorry I can’t help unless I know all about you because Google has very rigid recommendation guidelines. Many women said sure thing and sent my resume along to the HR dept. The greatest number of responses gave me excellent coaching. Do this or that to your resume. Google needs to see a GPA – add it. [which I had never included before] A couple ladies even told me that my Yahoo email address wouldn’t fly and that I should be using a Gmail account. [not the biggest surprise coming from Google, but still a big ol' wow on the details]

I am sad to report that exactly one week later, an Ops person from Google People got back to me and said that they did not have a position that matched my qualifications.

[come on man, I spent a whole day directly re-positioning my resume to fit the listed position] Aside from sharing my disappointment, I wanted to share this story, because at the heart of it is a great handful of women that did all they could to help me get a job at a company I have always wanted to work at. This, dear friends, is just one of the advantages to making connections and seeing how the networks you surround yourself with can help support you!

One last shout out about AWNY. For the Givers of this world, consider becoming a Mentor. AWNY has 'em, and I got the US Marketing Manager from USA Today when I first moved into the city and was looking for guidance. For the Get-ers of this world, check out your groups to become a Mentoree and learn more about the industry and to start the hand shaking.

AWNY also has an AwEsOmE VIP Silent Auction. Until I turned thirty, this was only available to young professionals; I had a great time buying my way onto top VP's schedules. Think about it: having the opportunity to lunch with:

Carl Fremont, Executive VP/Global Director Media & Digital Marketing, Digitas
Ed O’Donnell, Senior VP Marketing, NBC
David Verklin, CEO, Carat North America
Caroline McCurdy, Director Business Development Marketing Communication, Wall Street Journal

A one-hour lunch with each one of these folks is a mind-bending experience. Wanna see what the AWNY group is about? On March 24th, they have a networking clinic, as well as a year round activities calendar. Give it some thought.

massage your networks

Anyone reading score a job yet? If so, please let us know! If not…well, just keep reading. We’ll get there. We’ve done some good work so far. Look behind you. There’s a path of self-discovery and refinement now. Consider the fact we started talking a month ago. Since then, we have bemoaned the current economic climate and unemployment rates. We’ve looked at retreating into the continuing education shelter and listened to what our souls work should be. Hopefully, one of the assessment tests cleared up some internal inquiry or maybe you got better answers when we looked into researching industries and companies.

Certainly, our review of cover letters and resumes got us moving in the right direction. BUT if there is any part of our online career journey that is the most critical, then it’s where we are headed now. Working our social networks. If you don’t believe me, then take a look at the headlines. Most news sources tout networking as the key to getting a job during this difficult time. CNNMoney.com offers many articles. Check out: Hired! Putting your best face forward for example.

At this point, y’all, I expect that you plugged in your online profile. If you haven’t... for heavens sake! Stop reading and GO SIGN UP! If you have, good on you. Now, a key thing to remember is this is a two-way connection. We are going to be asking for help, but we are also going to be giving help or offering help along the way as well. For those of you who recognize karma, this is the law of giving. To get (which we’re gonna need), we’re gonna have to give. Practice this beyond when it’s asked of you. Pass things along to other folks if they seem like a good opportunity but not such a good fit for you.

Before we jump into different stories, recommendations, and good jokes, I would like to point out a couple great resources for online career networking. The first is a podcast that sits on the JobDig web site. Or maybe you are more of a contributor and want to participate in an online conversation of sorts. In that case, the networking tips and advice forum at Monster might be a better resource tool for you. Oh heck, it’s free. Check’em both out!

You all remember Jane from the local NYC gov. agency and Lynnette from Simon & Schuster? These two ladies could not stop advocating the benefits of networking. Jane says, “It’s all about working your connections in professional groups.” Lynnette comments, “You need to leverage everybody. Look for connections several contacts deep. Don’t stop at first level or direct friends.”

It just so happens friends that I have a great example of this kind of exercise and I’ll share it with you TOMORROW. Ohhhhhh! Such a Fox ending. At least it’s not a commercial break. Ryan Seacrest OUT. [and yes, I am not giving that RS an extra hyperlink in the universe]

let's get our arms around it

Sure enough, the President has “People”. We know that celebrities have agents and image consultants. I’m sure a whole team manages the business of Brad Pitt, but who is looking out for us? Yes, we have headhunters and professional recruiters (more on that later), but when it comes to who is looking out for you and I to become successful - all we have is each other. These days,because of social networks, that rather small or insignificant one-to-one connection between you and I has become HUGE.

Let's set the stage with a look at an interview Monster did with the authors of ‘The Virtual Handshake'. I think this is a great frame through which we should talk this week. There is an overall paradigm shift happening here as the article demonstrates. And I would love to know – are you feeling the effect?

When I moved from Cleveland to NYC, I wondered how the heck was I going to keep track of all the new people in my life. Sure, I had an address book and a [heavy and awkward] Rolodex, but I needed some kind of online people tracker. I was honestly at the brink of buying a personal software package to keep track of contacts when a site called LinkedIn popped up. Mission accomplished. I now had a FREE online tool at my fingers tips to track my professional connections. 

No social network exposure is complete without a profile on either MySpace or Facebook.  Any combination of profiles can result in a tsunami of friends. If you are fleeing from this tidal wave of long lost chums, I advise you abandon your futile efforts at running and get Friended. I am not trying to talk you into the latest electronic high school reunion, BUT the odds are that through all of these connections, we will find someone who can connect us to something to help us earn some kind of a paycheck.

Don’t stop reading now – you need to know a couple more things before you start logging on. Namely, that you should not confuse two of the sites I just named or their purposes. DO NOT post party pix on LinkedIn. Post your resume instead. DO NOT post your resume on Facebook. Post your upcoming weekend plans. Different sites – different objectives. Combine them and all your hard work could be for nothin’.



At this time, I would like to give a little shout out to the followers and folks who leave comments. In late February, Wei left a comment with a great URL pointing to many of the sites I was hoping we could take a look at – thanks again, Wei! Since they are all consolidated and in neat list form, might as well just check them out at Mashable: Top 10 Social Sites for Finding a Job.

Consider for a moment LinkedIn from the Mashable list. You might remember our ‘to remain nameless’ friend from a local NYC government agency. During our interview, "Jane" told me that she knew of twelve people that have gotten jobs in the last year through LinkedIn. That’s a healthy number of people placed based on random online connections. Right now, and at this moment, whom are you connected to that you don’t even know? You might be surprised. Don’t wait… get clickin’!

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!