Are you looking for a job?
You've come to the right place! Need info about resumes, social networking,
interviewing and career planning?
Let's get started!
Open your toolbox now!
How to find a community of job seekers: Part I
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I am working with Carolann Jacobs from Vivid Epiphany on a free teleseminar series to help job seekers dive into their job hunts. (Click HERE for more information – you can still sign up; there are 7 weeks to go!)
At our first session last week, one caller made a comment that really resonated with me. She pointed out that it was so nice for her to join the call with so many other job seekers and to realize that she is not alone in her job hunt. All along, I had been focusing on offering specific information in the seminar that would be useful and practical. I hadn’t specifically considered the value of bringing a group of job seekers together for support and encouragement. I’m glad to be enlighted! It was exciting when the participants on our call started to help each other and make suggestions to fellow callers. We started to build our own community in only one “meeting!”
Which leads me to this post…Where else can job seekers find support and encouragement?
My business partner Hallie Crawford made several good suggestions in her recent guest post.
I thought it would be useful to make some additional specific suggestions.
When I started to write this post, I realized that there are so many resources, I decided to break this up into a mini-series of posts. So, please stay tuned for the next few days for a slew of ideas if you are looking for a job! Don’t hesitate to comment with additional ideas or resources. I’ll be happy to include them in future posts.
Blogs
I am a bit biased, but I think blogs are terrific sources of support and can be community building mechanisms. I’d like to think that my blog is a place for job seekers to gain support and information, and there are many other great bloggers in the job hunting niche. You’ll find all of my favorites and more oncareer.alltop.com.
Select online resources
- Online job seeking support forum, such THIS ONE on about.com, hosted by career advice guru Allison Doyle. At this site, “you can discuss issues related to job searching, employment, and work. Ask questions, provide answers or start discussions on topics of interest to you.”
- Secrets of the Job Hunt is another terrific site that brings job seekers and career professionals together. If you have a question, you can post it and Chris Russell, who created the site and is also a founder of JobRadio FM, may repost it to all of the career professionals who are members on the site to respond to you. You can also read blog posts from many career professionals on this site. (I am a contributor as well.)
- job-hunt.org has a wonderful list of resources and in-person groups by state.
- I’m the Career Advice Expert for GreatPlaceJobs, a job board that only posts positions from award winning companies. Since we know that networking is key to the job hunt, GPJ hosts a LinkedIn networking community for our members, employees at great workplaces and recruiters. We are also planning teleseminars and other opportunities for recruiters at great workplaces to connect with employees. This could be a great resource if you are interested in working for an organization that has the potential to outperform in a recession.
You have no idea how to network and could use a little help? I can teach you how to take the steps you need to be successful. Contact me to learn more.
photo by niallkennedy
Did you miss these?
- How to find a community of job seekers: Part 2 In this second in my series of resources for job...
- How to find a community of job seekers, Part 3 In part 3 in my series of resources for job...
- Do something different to find a job: talk to people who can’t help you Next in my series of how to change directions for...
- Job seekers need to pitch what they offer, not just what they WANT Are you targeting your pitch? Or talking a lot about...
- Ramp up your job search during the holiday season: Part 1 In the first of my series on job hunting during...
Receive Keppie Careers' blog updates by email.
GREAT POST!
Job search support groups are often critical to a job seekers success since a job search can so often be a discouraging and lonely (even secret, sometimes) process. Going to a meeting, sharing ideas, making networking connections, improving your resume, helping others as you are helped, etc. is great for your spirits as well as for your job search.
I’ll second Miriam’s offer here. If you provide Miriam with the name and permanent URL of a group which meets regularly to help job seekers with their job search, I’ll also post the group on Job-Hunt, if it’s not already there.
NOTE: This is NOT an offer to link to a staffing agency’s home page or the home page of some other business (even a church). This IS an offer to link to the job search support group’s permanent URL. These groups really do save careers, homes, even lives, and I want to link to all the groups out there to help job seekers find the help they need.
Susan – I’m so glad you stopped by! Job-Hunt.org is such a great resource, and job seekers are lucky to have people like you looking out for their interests. I hope we can help spread the work about many new resources to add to your site!
[...] resources for “bad mood busting.” I particularly recommend the VIA Signature Strengths Finder.2. How to Find a Community of Job SeekersThis 2 part series from my colleague and friend Miriam Salpeter at Keppie Careers includes a mention [...]