Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

How to find a community of job seekers: Part I

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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.
Keep your ears and mind open to the possibilities that exist when you actually engage with people in person instead of focusing all of your networking online. Do you host or sponsor a group or site that supports job seekers? Feel free to add it in the comments! I would love to add it to one of the next posts in this series.
Stay tuned for in-person resources and more!

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

Do You Need More Reasons to Enhance Your Online Profile?

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Photo by Turbo

Because every “bunny’s” doing it?  I couldn’t resist the pun when I found this image on flikr…In all seriousness, I read yet another reason to update your linkedin profile and focus on your social network…

Yesterday, my cyber-friend, Chris Russel at Secrets of the Job Hunt, blogged about a recent survey developed by Robert Half International. An independent research firm interviewed 150 senior executives from the nation’s 1,000 largest companies.  They asked executives:
“Which of the following technology tools do you believe will be most useful in your firm’s recruiting efforts in the next three years?”
The responses:
Professional networking sites (such as Linkedin)………….62%
Social networking sites (such as Facebook or MySpace )……………….35%
Video resumes………………………..20%
Second Life…………………………..7%
None of these………………………..15%
Other/don’t know……………………. 10%
* Multiple responses were allowed.
(For the record, both Chris and I were surprised at the 20% figure for video resumes, as our experience is that they are not widely used.)

Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International and author of Job Hunting For Dummies, noted,

“Tried-and-true methods such as networking at industry events, submitting well-written resumes and cover letters and diligently following up with hiring managers are still essential to landing the ideal job…Combining personal and online networking offers the best of both worlds.”

I love to quote experts who agree with advice I’ve been giving for years!

Follow this link for tips to get your social network going.
For suggestions to improve your linkedin profile, click here.
Follow this link to read our advice regarding networking in general.

Keppie Careers will help you enhance your linkedin.com profile.  Email us at [email protected] for more information about our high quality, affordable services.ÂÂ