Tuesday, April 26, 2011

To blog or not blog?

Paraphrasing Hamlet, that is the real question of the day. Neal Schaeffer goes on to talk about the hidden powers of a business blog:

While blogs continue to mystify many companies who think that they are just for people expressing their personal opinions, more and more businesses are realizing the hidden powers that a business blog can provide to their sales and marketing efforts.  Even successful B2B blog case studies are beginning to appear. 
If your business still hasn’t started a blog, consider the potential hidden powers that a business blog holds

Continue to read Neal's posting here

Consider starting your own blog. It will help establish your brand and get your message (skills, talents, etc.) exposed.

Friday, April 22, 2011

There's still space available for this month's FREE webinar - "Life After The Pink Slip"!

Suzanne Grey spoke at our Job Search Jam Sessions and her workshops were well received. If you have the time, this should be a good workshop to take advantage of.



LinkedIn

Suzanne Gray has sent you a message.
Date: 4/22/2011
Subject: There's still space available for this month's FREE webinar - "Life After The Pink Slip"!
...but those spots are going fast, so be sure to register early! You have two opportunities to attend this eye-opening webinar: Tuesday, April 26 at 7:00 pm Eastern, http://bit.ly/gh1Vdm, and Thursday, April 28 at Noon Eastern, http://bit.ly/dVumHx. Click on any link for more information, or go here, http://bitly.com/hTaqTQ, to see what the webinar is all about!

Related Post
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/05/success-through-power-of-we.html

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Guide to Community Camp

The Guide to Community Camp is here!

Guide to Community Camp


If you are looking for work there are four scholarships (free passes) available to participate in this event. Details on how to obtain one of those tickets can be found here  http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2011/04/community-camp-risd-apr-23.html


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Recognize the barriers

Dave Meslin talks about the antidote to apathy and outlines the seven barriers:

  1. Intentional exclusion
  2. public space
  3. the media
  4. heroes
  5. political parties
  6. charitable status
  7. our elections



You have been anointed. You have been chosen. Do something about your job search today!

Community Camp is being held on Saturday, Apr 23rd. If you are looking for work there are four scholarships (free passes) available to participate in this event. Details on how to obtain one of those tickets can be found here  http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2011/04/community-camp-risd-apr-23.html




Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Transferable skills, yes - those!

Ronni Ann writes:
When targeting a resume to a job you want, it’s important to think about transferable skills from past jobs as well as exact skill matches. For example, the health care job he wants requires project management. Well, although his old resume never used that precise phrase, in previous jobs he had been in charge of making things happen from beginning to end, overseeing each detail and achieving successful outcomes. That’s project management. So I explained that we can rephrase how he described previous jobs to add that skill (and key phrase), which he actually has.
Read more at Work Coach Cafe


Community Camp is being held on Saturday, Apr 23rd. If you are looking for work there are four scholarships (free passes) available to participate in this event. Details on how to obtain one of those tickets can be found here  http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2011/04/community-camp-risd-apr-23.html




Saturday, April 16, 2011

Community Camp - RISD - Apr 23

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Community Camp Logo

You are invited to the following event:
Community Camp

Date:
Saturday, April 23, 2011 from 8:00 AM - 1:30 PM (ET)

Location:
RISD Auditorium
17 Canal Street
Providence, RI 02903
Can you attend this event? Respond Here
For more information click here.

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If you are conducting a job search, there are four scholarships (free passes) available to attend this camp. Details on how to qualify can be found here:
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2011/04/community-camp-risd-apr-23_13.html


Thursday, April 14, 2011

"Network Your Way Into the Hidden Job Market"

Hello Everyone,

We are in need of a few folks to step forward to join the HNG coordinator team. We are losing one coordinator, Madeliene Moore, who landed a contract position, another coordinator is becoming more involved with Toastmasters and probably will be leaving soon, and still another coordinator is studying for his insurance exam, and once he passes it, the company, New York Life, will be hiring him as an agent. That leaves just one left to handle the load. So, I'm in heavy recruiting mode to get more coordinators. We have been very fortunate in the past to get people to join the team, but it is getting more difficult to get people to step forward to do this. If you are interested in joining the team, either respond back to me or see me at the meeting.

The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by our speaker, Joellyn Schwerdlin, who is coming back for her third talk. The facilitator for this week will be Gil Krispien. We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, Joellyn will give a talk about, "Network Your Way Into the Hidden Job Market."

"Network Your Way Into the Hidden Job Market"

Landing an ideal career position in today's competitive labor market requires more effort than chasing "openings" and "vacancies," posting résumés on job boards, filling out online applications -- and waiting for responses that may never come.

In this seminar, you will learn how to break this dead-end "click and pray" cycle, by understanding what the hidden job market really is and how to effectively network your way into it. Even if you've attempted job-search networking without much success, this program will help you get back on track.

Material covered includes:

  • The true definition of "the hidden job market;"
  • The four stages of a job opening and the truths about job postings;
  • What job-search networking is -- and what it isn't;
  • Common mistakes people make in job-search networking situations -- and how to avoid them;
  • The importance of having a job-search plan in place before reaching out to your networking contacts;
  • How to strategically build a contact list to reach hiring decision makers;
  • And much more!


About Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin, Certified Career Management Coach - a.k.a. "The Career Success Coach"

Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin is a Certified Career Management Coach, who runs a private career coaching practice (located in Worcester, MA) serving executives, managers and professionals in career transition. She can work with anyone across the US by phone and web conferencing. Through her 8-module career coaching program and personal mentoring, Joellyn has helped countless clients find perfect career paths and land jobs they love much faster than they ever could on their own.

Prior to her work as a career coach, she earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign. After graduation, she moonlighted as a professional singer while holding administrative positions in the corporate world across various industry sectors, including: academia (medical school); business valuation; insurance (personal lines); manufacturing; and pharmaceuticals; as well as nearly two years in the HR department of a social service agency for developmentally disabled adults and children.

Joellyn earned her Certified Career Management Coach-CCMC (through Career Coach Academy), which is recognized by the International Coach Federation (ICF) as Accredited Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH). She also received a Job & Career Transition Coach-JCTC designation from the Career and Adult Development Network.

Her credentials also include a Certified Professional Resume Writer-CPRW designation. You'll find sample resumes, cover letters, and other contributions she's written featured in: Gallery of Best Resumes, 5th Edition (2011), Cover Letters for Dummies (2009); Job Search Bloopers (2008); Gallery of Best Resumes, 4th Edition (2007); Best Resumes for College Graduates to Land $75,000+ Jobs (2004);Gallery of Best Resumes, 3rd Edition (2004); Gallery of Best Cover Letters, 2nd Edition (2004); Resume Maker Professional 11.0 (2003); America's Top Resumes for America's Top Jobs (2002); Gallery of Best Resumes (2001); Gallery of Best Resumes for People Without a Four-Year Degree (2000), Gallery of Best Cover Letters (1999) and others.

For more information, visit her website: www.career-success-coach.com

Schedule for HNG Meetings:

May 6, 2011 Dr. Paul Power
May 20, 2011 Stephen Balzac "Interviewing For Success: How to Find, and Land, Your Dream Job"
June 3, 2011 Workshop
June 17, 2011 Abby Grant Using Boston Business Journal for the job search
July 1, 2011
July 15, 2011 Patricia Hunt Sinacole "A Practical Guide to Landing a Job in Today's Employment Market."
August 5, 2011 Gail Greenberg
August 19, 2011

General Information:

The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there is plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose every other Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.

We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following agenda items:
Welcome
Landings (with doughnuts)
Announcements
New member introductions
Needs and Leads
Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
Name
Skills and Value Statement
Where have you been?
Where are you going?
Your title
Your target companies
Geography of search
Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions:
Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route. The address of the church is:
St. John the Evangelist
20 Church Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748

Regards,
Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) Coordinators:
Steven Hakar  - hakar4@hotmail.com
Gil Krispien - g.krispien@comcast.net
William Lam - wmlam508@yahoo.com
Madeliene Moore - madelienem@yahoo.com

Daren Canfield (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Patricia Centola (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Marjorie Cernigliaro (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Andrea Haber (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Christine Hurley (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Marilyn Johnson (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Laura Nelson (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Del Richmond (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; he is employed now)
Diane Shelley (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Steve Sherlock (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; he is employed now)
Nancy Spadorcia (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Jack Speranza (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; he is employed now)
Mario Tardif (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; he is employed now)
Qing Ye (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now)
Denise Zazzera (HNG Coordinator Emeritus; she is employed now



Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Community Camp - RISD - Apr 23

There will be a Job Search Jam Sessions track at Community Camp, April 23!


Community Camp is an informal, participant-driven unconference that brings together small business owners, artisans, students, job seekers and other members of the community. We'll share what we have learned on reaching out to the local and global community. We'll have a conversation about how participating in groups is an effective tool to make our voices heard.


Sessions will be held in the following topics:

  • Marketing - scaling your message, reaching an audience, developing a "personal brand", going viral
  • Community - social media, networking resources, job search information
  • Media - the hows, whys, whats, and wheres of creating new media
  • Second Purpose - green, environmental-focused sessions; recycling, repurposing

As an unconference, Community Camp requires active participation from attendees, either in asking questions and engaging in discussion or in leading a breakout session. Sessions may be prepared and announced in advance, but they may also be organized on the fly at the event.


When:  Saturday, April 23, 2011 – 8:00 am to 1:30 pm
Where: RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Street, ProvidenceRI 02903


What does it mean to have a 'track'?
Amongst the sessions during the day, there will be a series of them focused on the job search with an emphasis on social media.


What is a Community Camp?
Community Camp is an un-conference about social media and online networking. It is an open and collaborative event with discussions and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. Some sessions will be planned ahead of the event, but plenty of spaces will be open for the topics YOU want to discuss and learn.


Why should I go?
Community Camp is all about social media/networking, and its relevance and usefulness to community, business and otherwise. 

What does it cost?
Tickets are $20 ($10 for students), but all are expected to participate and/or present. You can participate by giving a presentation, demo, or joining into another cooperative event, being on a panel/roundtable, or in other ways helping out on event day.


If you want to register, please do so here


Or save some money:
There is a special deal for those who want to go but are un-employed or under-employed! Steve Sherlock has arranged to provide four (4) tickets to help job seekers attend.


How do I get one of those tickets?
Send an email to Steve (shersteve at gmail dot com) and state your case:
Clearly and concisely, explain what you have been doing as part of your job search and how participating in Community Camp would help your effort.


Note: Your paragraph will be published here to help showcase you and your efforts in social media if you win one of the scholarships.

Friday, April 8, 2011

can developing your brand improve your job search?

What is your brand?

What do you stand for?

How can developing your brand improve your job search?

How transparent are you?

Morgan Spurlock explores these (and other related questions) in this TED Talk:




Thoughts?


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Take some one with you

One of the most baffling things about job search is that we are not trained for it. If you’re new to the job market, you don’t really know the process. If you’ve job searched before, things have probably changed a lot since the last time you were looking for a job.
Carrie Krueger goes on to list the key ways the search has changed.

One key that I would add to her listing: you are not alone in your search, you should not go alone on your search!

The network you build should do two things for you; help you spread the word on what you do and how you do it as well as provide some support for you in the process. Ja-Nae talked about vulnerability here recently. Recognizing that you need not go alone I think is key to your success.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I learn, you learn, we all learn

Matt Youngquist on learning from mistakes in the job search:
The key, however, as with any skill involving a learning curve, is to not wallow in your mistakes and sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Take some time, instead, to analyze what you did wrong, learn from it, and commit to not making the same mistake again. Did you absolutely botch a recent interview question about salary requirements? Then come up with a better answer to this question and practice it, at least ten times, until you’ve got it down cold. Did you ramble on nervously and incessantly, right out of the gate, when the hiring manager asked you to tell him/her a little about yourself? Same thing. Prepare a short, structured answer — following the advice I’ve given in this blog or any other formula you can find out there — and then drill yourself on delivering this response, multiple times, until you can confidently respond without missing a beat.
What have you learned that you would share?

My job search learnings were shared here after I landed and are shared here almost daily.



Community Camp - RISD - Apr 23

There will be a Job Search Jam Sessions track at Community Camp, April 23!


Community Camp is an informal, participant-driven unconference that brings together small business owners, artisans, students, job seekers and other members of the community. We'll share what we have learned on reaching out to the local and global community. We'll have a conversation about how participating in groups is an effective tool to make our voices heard.


Sessions will be held in the following topics:

  • Marketing - scaling your message, reaching an audience, developing a "personal brand", going viral
  • Community - social media, networking resources, job search information
  • Media - the hows, whys, whats, and wheres of creating new media
  • Second Purpose - green, environmental-focused sessions; recycling, repurposing

As an unconference, Community Camp requires active participation from attendees, either in asking questions and engaging in discussion or in leading a breakout session. Sessions may be prepared and announced in advance, but they may also be organized on the fly at the event.


When:  Saturday, April 23, 2011 – 8:00 am to 1:30 pm
Where: RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Street, ProvidenceRI 02903


What does it mean to have a 'track'?
Amongst the sessions during the day, there will be a series of them focused on the job search with an emphasis on social media.


What is a Community Camp?
Community Camp is an un-conference about social media and online networking. It is an open and collaborative event with discussions and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. Some sessions will be planned ahead of the event, but plenty of spaces will be open for the topics YOU want to discuss and learn.


Why should I go?
Community Camp is all about social media/networking, and its relevance and usefulness to community, business and otherwise. 

What does it cost?
Tickets are $20 ($10 for students), but all are expected to participate and/or present. You can participate by giving a presentation, demo, or joining into another cooperative event, being on a panel/roundtable, or in other ways helping out on event day.


If you want to register, please do so here


Or save some money:
There is a special deal for those who want to go but are un-employed or under-employed! Steve Sherlock has arranged to provide four (4) tickets to help job seekers attend.


How do I get one of those tickets?
Send an email to Steve (shersteve at gmail dot com) and state your case:
Clearly and concisely, explain what you have been doing as part of your job search and how participating in Community Camp would help your effort.


Note: Your paragraph will be published here to help showcase you and your efforts in social media if you win one of the scholarships.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Vulnerability and the job search

Ja-Nae has recognized a good insight from her road trip. The insight should help you on the job search. Vulnerability is not bad, it can be quite good!




Are you ready to be vulnerable?


Read more of Ja-Nae here


Friday, April 1, 2011

Not just any job, a just job

What is the jobs challenge? 


What are just jobs, and why are they important? 


How do you promote just jobs?






Just Jobs, a new program at the Center for American Progress, seeks to extend the benefits of economic integration and trade to all of the workers who power the global economy. The moral reasons for providing workers with “just jobs,” including labor rights, appropriate compensation, social protections such as healthcare and pensions, and opportunities for economic mobility, are well understood. Less understood is how promoting these policies in developing countries alongside developed ones benefits both in a world that is closely connected through technology, flows of people, goods, services, and capital.
Read more about Just Jobs on the Center for American Progress site