Posts Tagged ‘Jobs’

I’ve heard people say this many times and have experienced it myself, job hunting is a full time job. This isn’t a pie in the sky tech blog post, this is coming from the trenches. I’ve been job searching for the past four months and I want to share my observations using LinkedIn to help you with your search.

Update Your Profile

The main tip for creating your LinkedIn profile is to create a focused account of your recent career experiences. Fill out the entire profile, including past positions, education, interests, and groups. Manage your profile information as closely as you manage your updated resume(s). Be professional, accurate, and put your best foot forward.


Key Sections

• Make sure to update your Contact Settings to match your job search strategyIf you can list that you’re interested in “Career Opportunities” then make sure to list it. If you’re currently in a job but looking for another opportunity, you may not want to add the “Career Opportunities” to the list to keep your search under the radar.
• Take some time to carefully craft the Summary section. I had a one sentence “mission statement” there for a long time but as I used LinkedIn more and more I found other people’s Summary statements useful. Plus, I received feedback from a career counselor that it needed to be beefed up.

  Think of the Summary as a condensed job description. If you’re currently working then write a one or two paragraph description of your key duties and also fold in some of your key accomplishments. If you’re unemployed then list some of your key experiences that match the jobs you’re looking for. You can do this by pulling out one of the job descriptions that you’ve applied to (because you think there’s a great fit) and reflect those qualifications in your Summary. Employers labor over writing those job descriptions and use very exact language to attract the right possible employees so make use of them.

Do Some Networking

1. Connect with current and former colleagues. Reach out to people you have good relationships with in your social network communities. The stronger the relationship, the more valuable they will be in your job search. You’ll be helping them out in the future. Connect with in real life and also online via LinkedIn. The photos above are from local networking events.
2. Use your contacts judiciously and only request connections to people you don’t know when they are super strategic to your search.
3. If you can connect with reputable recruiters, then do so. A Twitter friend recommended a recruiter and she’s been great at sharing job listings and keeping them updated with the current status. While I’ve been connected to her, she’s found jobs for dozens of people via LinkedIn. Contact me if you are in IT in the LA or Ventura County and I’ll pass you her information.

Use It For Research

LinkedIn is incredible for doing research on possible employers:

1. Many companies are listed on LinkedIn. During a typical day’s search, I’ll look up ten companies on LinkedIn and usually nine of them are listed.
2. You can “follow” companies. Then, you can see when new jobs are added, if people leave the company, or if someone gets a promotions.
3. Just as employers can research you online, you can research employees, especially hiring managers and people who will be interviewing you.
4. I also like looking at who’s being promoted and who’s recently left the company. This is a way to get a peek into the current company activities and may point out a new way for you to fit into the organization. “What, I won’t fit into that online marketing manger role? Well maybe I would fit in the Systems Analyst side of things.” This is all valuable intelligence.
5. Look at the Summary descriptions for existing company employees. This give you an idea of what people are really doing. You may be able to get a better picture of who you might be reporting to or who you might be managing.
6. Look at recommendations written for people in the company (you may need to be connected to them to see this). Recommendations from employee colleagues can tell you what employees value and some of their company lingo. For example, if several people recommend an employee and mention “excellent team player” then you have an idea that working in a team is important to that company culture.

Use The Job Search Tool

LinkedIn also has a good job search tool. You can actually apply for some jobs directly via LinkedIn.

I must say, I applied for several positions using this method but never heard back from the companies. This could indicate a hole in the application process or just a bad match. At the very least, this is a great way to discover job opportunities. If you have better luck applying to jobs via different channels (on Monster, Dice, Indeed, recruiter, etc.), you may want to use the LinkedIn search results then go check your favorite channel.

(click below to enlarge the image)

Review

LinkedIn provides an intelligent set of tools to help you with your search. Take the time to set up your LinkedIn account then use it wisely. I hope these tips help. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by. Please share you LinkedIn job tips and comments below.

Photo Credits:
Atomicshark (cat picture) – License
Stefan (strormtrooper investigator) - License

This video shows you how to better visualize the key aspects of job by focusing on important keywords.

When is this technique useful?

There are two main circumstances when this tip is useful:

1. Let’s say you’ve identified ten good job opportunities and you have the full job descriptions, but only want to focus on one or two of the jobs. This method of highlighting keywords, using Wordle.net as a visualization tool, will help you see the keywords better. Once the main keywords are more apparent, you can use them to select the top two jobs and create your cover letters and shape your resume to focus on what’s important.

   Remember, the hiring manager created the job description so it is likely she will be looking for those keywords in cover letters to help her filter her stack of applications.

2. Yay! You received an interview and now you need to prepare for it. By using this technique, you can zoom in on the most important job aspects and skills. I used this technique before an interview and it highlighted a key technical skill. I reviewed the technical skill before the interview (I wish I had prepared more) and was asked about it and was tested on it.
   
   
   I hope the video is useful. Good luck on the job search!

Related Posts

• Using Keywords in Your Job Search – CareerBuilder.com
• Online Job Searching – Job Search Words – About.com:JobSearching

[Previously posted on www.jesseluna.posterous.com]

After the layoff, I’ve thought a lot of about the role of fear in my life. I’ve realized that if one only listens to fear, it covers up who we really are, our essential nature.

Part of living in fear may include an inability to ask for help. Fear tells us that we shouldn’t ask for help because it will make us vulnerable and show that we’re weak. Fear also tells us that asking for help will make us look selfish and feel stupid because we can’t do it all ourselves.

Fear tells us these things but we know they are not true. Most of the people I respect and admire are those who knew the power of asking for help and used it to build movements and achieve transformational change.

I’m looking for job opportunities and I’m asking for your help. I listed my job search areas below and some helpful bits of information that demonstrate my experience in each area. You can help by connecting me with possible opportunities, spreading the news, and by just saying hello and sending encouraging words. I’ve already received a great amount of support and I’m grateful.

Are you also on the job hunt?

If you’re on the job hunt as well, I encourage you to ask for help. If you have your target job areas posted publicly, go ahead and put a link to the page in the Comments below. This will help others reach out and connect you to opportunities and to spread the news.

My Job Search Areas

My personal mission statement is to empower people through technology education. This includes empowering individuals and small businesses.

I’m primarily looking in Ventura Country and Southern California, but will consider moving to the Bay Area or other locations if the salary & growth opportunities are there.

My LinkedIn is at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jpluna
Visual CV: http://www.visualcv.com/jesseluna
My blog: http://www.jesseluna.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jesseluna

I have three main search areas:

• Technology Training/advocacy,
• Online Marketing Manger, and
• Community Manager

Details and experience in each area:

Technology Training/advocacy

• I taught elementary and middle school for seven years in El Monte, Redwood City, and San Francisco (Mission District)
• I was a “user advocate” and tech systems trainer for CDI for the first three years with the company, in addition to doing web design and programming.
• I was a lecturer at Cal State Channel Islands for over a year, teaching Business students the ins and outs for Information systems management and teaching them to blog and build Web sites. I have an MBA and a Masters in Computer Information Systems.
• In 2009, I created an online blogging class. The class was created using the WordPress platform.
• I’ve also done volunteer Internet consulting work for non-profits (low-income law advocacy, alumni group, social justice groups, political campaigns, sustainability)

Online marketing manager

• I’ve worked in this role for the past seven years. Includes online advertising (including Google AdWords), product marketing, email newsletter creation and delivery, SEO, e-commerce site design
• I created and managed over 500 online promotions
• Have also done a lot of offline activities such as print/signage design for marketing collateral and trade shows
• I’m seeking a position that includes social media management.

Community Manager (in social media)

• I introduced social media to my previous company and we took a stepwise approach to folding it into the business
• I managed the company’s Twitter account (@cdi) and created a Facebook group for the company
• I helped set up the company with a blogging infrastructure. We created our first group blog a year and a half ago and now the company has several people blogging. I trained everyone on how to use WordPress.com and WordPress.org sites.
• I was an active part of #Eric campaign, an effort to save a young man’s life. More information is available on the Eric’s Law site and you can see my interview with What Gives on the campaign via my Visual CV page.

I appreciate your help and you can reach me via email at jesse [dot] luna [at] gmail [dot] com.

Photo Credit
Andries3 on Flickr – Creative Commons license

I made a huge decision a couple of weeks ago. My remote work location Web Marketing Manager position was terminated as part of a reduction in forces. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I had the opportunity to move to Denver for a different position with the same company.

My first thought was that I had to move to Denver. I started making plans, setting time-lines, notifying family, and stressing out. It wasn’t just the right thing to do, it was the only thing to do. Or so I initially thought.

As the days went by I noticed that my morning walks were no longer cheerful ones. I use the walks with my lab Ivory (@niceblog on Twitter) as a chance to reflect and enjoy the beauty of the morning. I say hello to everyone I meet – the early-working men on their way to fields or to cut grass who hang out near the bakery, my neighbors, folks at the park. I also use the walk to reset my energy. It’s just like when a dog shakes in place. They do so to shake away the past and to get back to a calm and present state of being.

But that was changing. At one point I looked up to say hi to a passerby-er and realized that my face didn’t convey its usual confidence and cheer, but something quite different. It expressed pain.

When confronted with a tough decision, we have two immediate thought inputs. One is instinct and the other is fear. The first works off of concrete experience, intuition, and confidence and the second works off of insecurities, cumulative fears, and a fictional past and future. This is what they said:

Fear: Boy, you really dodged a bullet there. Of course you only have one choice. Let’s pack up the house, put it in storage then lets move to Denver. Yes, you’ll probably lose the house, wont’ be able to take Ivory with you, and will be a thousand miles from all your family but at least you won’t be unemployed. If you don’t take the job you’ll never find another one and you’ll be a loser.

Harsh.

Instinct: You’ve worked so hard over the past 12 years to build a career for yourself outside of your daily job. You earned two Masters degrees, ventured out and co-founded a Dot Com startup, were a University lecturer, and have learned how to foster online communities. This may be a good time for you to break away and fully match your personal interests with your everyday career path. You can do this. It’s time.

Fear likes to keep people quiet. It tells us to keep things to ourselves so that people don’t think we’re losers, petty, or insignificant. Fear tells us that we need to be quiet because we have no idea what we’re doing or how things will turn out. But the more we listen to fear, the more we internalize those insecurities and act based on them. Eventually we end up projecting those fears to others.

I don’t know where this adventure will lead me, but I choose to move forward with courage and to continually empower myself and others around me. And yes, fear will creep out from time to time. But now I’ll see it as an indication that I am progressing and moving into new and uncharted waters while staying true to myself.

I intend to share this journey and some of the tools, inspirations, and approaches that I’ll been using to stay focused. Thanks for listening and for joining me on this adventure. Thanks to all those who have already sent encouraging words and job leads. I truly appreciate your words and actions and am grateful for your support.