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June 30, 2009
New Ways to Land a Job
July and August are special months for eSight NetWork News (eNN) subscribers.
This week, we’re introducing a special interactive project for sharing ideas this summer about how you, as a job seeker with a visual impairment, can effectively use social media for networking so you can gain meaningful employment.
During the next two months, eSight will facilitate a LinkedIn group, "Using Social Media Networking as a Job Search Tool."
The purpose: to encourage HR professionals and hiring managers in the U.S. to share ideas about how job seekers with visual impairments can effectively use social media for their job searches so employers have access to the best available talent, regardless of disability.
Also, through Twitter, career counselors who coach visually impaired job seekers throughout the U.S. will share ideas about how these tips from employers can best be applied in the real world.
And, you, as an eNN reader, will be able to chime into this conversation, too. How?
All you have to do is follow the links below and add your thoughts to this week’s discussion on the eSight Network Forum.
By doing so, you’ll be able to hear what hiring managers are saying about how to find a job in today’s market using social media – and quickly add your own comments about what you think works and does not work in searching for a job online.
Here’s how you’ll benefit by joining your fellow eSight members in following this discussion:
- You’ll gain insight from employers throughout the U.S. about how social media is changing the process of landing a job.
- You’ll help develop a dialogue among your fellow eSight members about how to most effectively use social media in finding a job.
- You’ll be able to share your own ideas about what is most practical with your fellow eSight members.
One thing I can promise you. Stick with us over the next eight weeks, and you’ll look at job hunting in a whole new light.
eSight will highlight the key thoughts which come out of this Twitter conversation among eSight members in each week’s issue of eNN.
And, we’ll use the eSight Networking Forum to tie down some of the most important issues we may have with social media as a job hunting tool from a visual impairment standpoint.
We’ll also translate the insight generated by you, your fellow eSight members, career counselors and employers into a series of free articles, white papers and teleseminars about "Essential Job Search Tactics," which will become available on eSight over the next few months.
So, before you join Twitter or publish your profile on LinkedIn, please take this first step. Think about what you want an employer to know about you.
For background, read "Essential Career Marketing Tactic: Self-presentation"
Then give us your thoughts about this question:
How do you transform your old elevator pitch into
profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. so
recruiters get an accurate picture of what you have
to offer a prospective employer?
Add your comments to this posting
Posted by Liz Seger at June 30, 2009 05:09 PM
Comments
Good question, Liz. I think, with the rapid rise in social media, we’re seeing expanded opportunities for networking.
Personal networking at meetings and conferences is still powerful. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. are just giving us more opportunities that are often easier and less time-consuming to connect with the right people.
Some say online profiles are replacing resumes. I don’t think so. Online profiles are just adding to the options we all have for marketing ourselves as job seekers. Profiles have become online personal branding vehicles. Resumes have become screening tools for employers.
The process of coming up with a good elevator pitch or profile or resume has not changed. Being effective in each depends on our ability to know who we are (to know our strengths and best attributes based on our own unique experiences).
What has changed is this: We need to know how to put who we are in words that are appropriate for each channel of communication we use. How we write our resumes is going to be different than how we craft our elevator pitch, create our profile for Twitter, publish our profile on LinkedIn etc.
This makes personal branding today complicated because we need to become good communicators – in person, on paper and online.
The trick is to be consistent in how we are presenting ourselves across all of these communication channels.
Here’s an exercise that can help us become flexible but consistent communicators.
First, select a couple of high-profile individuals who we believe are doing a good job of presenting themselves across all of these channels.
Second, ask ourselves: How are they adapting their personal presentation to each situation and still coming up with a consistent message about what they’re all about?
Posted by: Jim Hasse at July 1, 2009 12:33 PM
By the way, I didn’t mean to imply above that we need to be involved (and manage our personal presentations) over the whole range of social media that are available in today's online environment.
Pick one medium that best meets your needs, hone your profile on that medium and then ride with it so you learn the “ins” and “outs” of that particular community.
If you’re a job seeker, LinkedIn or Twitter (or a combination of the two, using Twitter to search for open jobs and using LinkedIn to build relationships with individuals working in companies you’re targeting) may be the best avenues for you.
If you just want to build a network of friends within your local area, consider Facebook.
If you’re a small business owner wanting to quickly add contact information to your list of customers for a product, you may want to consider StumbleUpon or Twitter.
If you want to build relationships over time with individuals who could eventually become potential clients for the service you’re selling, consider LinkedIn.
The key is to learn how to write a profile that carries out your objective and fits the specific community you are targeting.
Posted by: Jim Hasse at July 1, 2009 02:00 PM
Another thought: the importance of key words.
Your elevator pitch probably has some key words which are essential in describing what you offer prospective employers.
Why? Because you’ve already gone through the process of examining your experience and identifying key attributes which have contributed to your success. They are key attributes which also will likely determine your future success.
Those key attributes are your key words. Use them in presenting yourself to others. Use them in your elevator pitch. But also use them in your resume, your ePortfolio, your offering statement – and your social networking profiles.
Your key attributes will give you focus and consistency in your self-presentation (both online and off).
They’ll help you to accurately develop a “personal brand.”
Posted by: Jim Hasse at July 1, 2009 05:04 PM
Thanks, Jim for all that information. I'm just learning to use twitter and facebook and linkedin myself so it'll be a together learning experience for us.
Scott, Many entrepreneurs are using social media to promote their businesses. I do hope that you will join with us this summer as we explore how to use Twitter and Linked in -- I’m sure you will discover many ways that you too can use it to grow your business
You also might want to talk to your local radio stations, tv stations and local weekly and daily newspapers to get them to do a feature article on you and your studio. I know that our local daily and our weekly have done articles on the local musician and their studios here.
Michelle with a little help from Nancy, we found this for you. think that the Regional SSA Selective Placement Coordinator for your area is:
Nancy Torres
Nancy.Torres@ssa.gov
Social Security Administration
300 Spring Garden Street - 7th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-597-1928
She is the contact person for Delaware, Maryland (except Headquarters), Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia.
The complete list of Regional SSA Selective Placement Coordinators is online at
www.cessi.net/ttw/SSAHires/spc.html
You may also want to read what eSight recently published "SSA Is Hiring Across the USA" at
www.esight.org/view.cfm?x=2009
It is also a good idea to use local resources.
Here are two links:
- Adult Vocational Rehabilitation Services for those in the US
www.vesid.nysed.gov/adult_vocational_rehabilitation_services/about.htm
- National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB)
www.ncsab.org/default.htm
To all of you in the US a very happy fourth of July, come back safe and sound after your holiday.
Posted by: Liz S at July 3, 2009 08:47 AM
I've been on Facebook for over a year - I got on it to netwrok socially. Then, when I lost my job, I went onto LinkedIn and Plaxo. Lately, I've started using Twitter. All this to say I can't follow your recommendation to read the article before getting invovled in social networking. ;-)
I've taken the strategy of putting everything of relevance into my LinkedIn profile and deliberately guiding people there. My email sig file includes it and I regularly post status updates on Facebook, Twitter and Plaxo to my LinkedIn profile. That not only keeps my family and friends aware I'm still looking for work (a key element of the networking process) but can increase my visibility on Google and Yahoo searches. With a name as common as mine EVERY bit helps.
Every job I've gotten since High School has been through networking, so I'm convinced it rather than Monster or Jobs.com is where I'll find my next job, too. Doing it online is a bonus.
www.linkedin.com/in/jssmith210
Posted by: Jeff Smith at July 3, 2009 02:08 PM
Thanks, Jeff, I'm still learning Twitter and FaceBook and will be working on info for Linkedin. You mentioned one I've never heard of Plaxo could you pass on the url please?
I know this is all utterly new to many of us who are older, while younger people have been social networking for a good part of their lives. So it's time for you young people to teach us older folks some new skills and ways of doing things. Never miss the opportunity to "help" someone else acquire new skills or as the old literary programs used to say each one teach one. Thanks again.
Posted by: Liz S at July 5, 2009 02:31 PM
Liz, Plaxo is at www.plaxo.com.
A good summary of Plaxo's features is at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaxo.
It looks like it's similar to Facebook.
Posted by: Jim Hasse at July 8, 2009 11:36 AM
By the way, Jeff, I'm really impressed by how you are using LinkedIn as your social media focal point.
As you may have found, there are applications available for free on each of these social media sites that allow you to automatically share info you've posted elsewhere (such as blog entries, tweets, wall postings) on LinkedIn etc. That saves a lot of time.
See the applications menu in each venue.
Posted by: Jim Hasse at July 8, 2009 11:59 AM