05 Apr 11 TweetMyJobs – Using Twitter in the job search

As I’ve talked with people where I live, many of them have wondered how Twitter could be used in the job search. Aside from building and communicating a personal brand presence, I’m now recommending TweetMyJobs.com.

I only recently started looking at it, and I really like the benefits for job seekers, as seen via the TweetMyJobs Job Seeker Intro:

• Have access to thousands targeted JobChannels™, so you only get the jobs that match your profile in your feed
• Receive INSTANT notification of new jobs in your Twitter feed or on your mobile device
• Learn of new posting from thousands of leading companies
• Post (and tweet) your resume and custom profile to thousands of recruiters and hiring managers
• Forward jobs to friends
• Receive daily job updates via email or RSS
• Be able to search for jobs using our TweetMap, a Google Maps enabled job tool

Up to now I’ve had some of this on my own, through my own tinkering around. I like that this interface has been developed in such a way that anyone can use it.

Related articles

• Using Twitter in Your Job Search (psychologytoday.com)
• Facebook-Infused Job Search Site Finds Listings From Your Social Graph (mashable.com)
• How to Use Twitter to Help You Find a New Job [Jobs] (lifehacker.com)

Tags: job hunt, Job hunting, job search, TweetMyJOBS, twitter

06 Jan 11 How’s Your Job Search Going?

If you ask, most people in a job search probably hate getting asked this question.

I’m currently reading a book called Breakthrough! (affiliate link) by Paul Kurnit and Steve Lance.  It’s more of a business book, but the marketing principles are certainly applicable to those in transition. Chapter 1 of the books is ”How Ya Doin’?”

Job seekers are not alone in their dislike of the question. Paul and Steve say that question is one of the most feared questions people in business hear all the time as well. Without sounding like a complete advertisement for the book, I think there are some great things they share that can transfer to those in a job search. (Note: I originally came up with the idea for this post in the spring of 2010 before I’d even heard about the book.)

It should be easy, they say. After all there are only 5 choices, which I’ve adapted for the purpose of this post:

1. “Terrible.” If your job search isn’t what it could be or your career outlook isn’t what it used to be, what are you doing about it? Take stock of what you already have to offer. Then figure out a new game plan and transition into something else.
2. “Could be better.” This is probably what most of us would say. Whose fault is it that our search is the way that it is? The only one who can change it is you. Time to make a plan to make it better.
3. “Same old, same old.” What?! It sounds like rear-view mirror thinking. This is a dangerous spot to be in, because you could soon find yourself thinking that things will be okay in the future because they have been in the past.
4. “Great! Couldn’t be better!” Maybe things are going well for you in your search. Maybe you feel that everything is falling into place and you can just coast along. The truth is that, just as consumer brands need to develop and grow to stay at the top in their respective industries, so we ourselves as brands need to develop and grow to stay at the top in our respective industries.
5. “It’s great, but it could be better.” You should always be actively involved in creating what Matthew Kelly, author of The Dream Manager (affiliate link), calls “the best version of yourself.”

So, how’s your job search going?

Related articles

• Memorable 2010 job-search stories (sfgate.com)
• Job Seekers, Forget About LinkedIn: The Ultimate Guide for Your Twitter Job Search (customerthink.com)
• Looking for a job in 2011? Here’s how to stand out (msnbc.msn.com)
• Shake Up a Job Search Success Cocktail This Holiday (personalbrandingblog.com)

Tags: big idea, Breakthrough! (book), career development, Dream Manager (book), innovation, job hunt, Job hunting, job search, Matthew Kelly, Paul Kurnit, Steve Lance

28 Apr 10 Passion and audacity in the job search

If you’re passionate in your job search, it shows. If you have a goal, a targeted opportunity you’re zealously pursuing, it’s obvious. You cannot hide it.

Like this guy, who wants to work for U2. (more…)

Tags: job hunt, U2

26 Feb 10 The hardest part of your job search

What is the hardest part of your job search?

Is it finding contacts to one of your target companies? Is it building a list of companies you’re targeting? How about preparing for interviews?

For me, the hardest part of my job search is also the most important part.  What I’m about to say is echoed time and again from people I’ve interviewed for the How I Got My Job job search success stories podcast. I believe it’s the most important part and most often the hardest. Because it requires so much work up front. (more…)

Tags: 48 Days to the Work You Love, Employment, job hunt, Marketing, Seth Godin

03 Mar 09 Promise Me Something

I know you’re hurting.

When I was unemployed and underemployed in 2003-2004, those were very dark times for me.  The stress of not being able to provide for my family overwhelmed me to the point where I became seriously depressed.  Seriously depressed. The pain I felt was nearly unbearable.  I found a psychiatrist and therapist and took some medicine and talked with other people. I was involved in a church community.

Depression clouds everything

Still, there were times I thought about ending it all. Yes, there were rare times of what they call “suicidal ideation“.  I was open about those thoughts and feelings.  I made myself accountable to others who would ask me:

• “Are you taking your medicine?”
• “Are you going to your appointments?”
• “How are you really doing today?”

Depression clouds everything, especially in a job search.  When you’re depressed you don’t feel like you have anything to offer anyone.  Maybe this hits us guys more than the ladies because we get so much of our identity from what we do for a living.  When that is taken away from us, we feel like part of our soul has been ripped out.

There are days you don’t even want to wake up.  You want the pain to go away.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Stay in the battle

Promise me something.  No matter how bad it gets – don’t give up.  Stay in the battle.  Look at yourself in the mirror – no, STARE DOWN the person in the mirror – and repeat these two statements of fact:

1. You are better than you think you are.
2. You can do more than you think you can.

The biggest reason I created the How I Got My Job project is for times like this. Surround yourself with success.  Just hearing that someone else got a job can give you hope.  Listen to these stories over and over again.  Let them sink into your consciousness as you begin to believe in yourself again.

Read this excellent article from Christopher S. Penn about How Your iPod Can Protect Your Mind.

Get help

Finally, get help. No man is an island.  We were made to be social creatures, and we need to get and stay connected with others.  We live in an age now where connecting online is so easy.  Even more importantly, though, get connected to people in-person.  You need to find people to meet up and network with.  Find people who will inspire and encourage you, people who are not afraid to tell it like it is.  Heck, feel free to get in touch with me. I try to make myself as approachable as possible.  Get some therapy if needed.

To share this post on Twitter, please copy and paste the following text:

RT @danieljohnsonjr: (via Get That Job!) Promise Me Something: http://bit.ly/promise-me

Related articles by Zemanta

• Respond to Depression (articlesbase.com)
• Six Great Ways to Vent Your Frustrations (lifehack.org)

Tags: Depression, job hunt, job search

22 Dec 08 You won’t get that job without this

You probably won’t get that job (or keep it) without this…

I’ve interviewed several people so far for How I Got My Job, the job-hunting success stories podcast you need to check out and tell your friends about.  One common theme in every interview so far is this advice when approaching a job interview situation: be honest.  It doesn’t do anyone well for you to present yourself as anything other than who you are.

Be authentic.  Tell authentic stories about yourself and what you ‘ve done that fit what the hiring manager – or in many cases now – hiring managers are looking for.  That is the best way to set yourself up not only for job-hunting success but also for career management success in general.

Some specific interviews where this hits home:

• Trish Forant told the hiring manager that yes, she could probably sell ice to an eskimo, but also said that selling probably wasn’t the best opportunity for her, of the two they had open:  How I Got My Job as an IT Instructor – Trish Forant
• Suki Fuller told a panel of executives that were interviewing her that she was nervous. After all it was intimidating to be surrounded by a group of folks who were going to grill you on your abilities as a research analyst in competitive intelligence: How I Got My Job in Competitive Intelligence – Suki Fuller
• John Buehler said that hiring managers are going to look to put you into specific hypothetical situations in the interview to see who you really are: How I Got My Job as a Chief Technical Officer – John Buehler

Naturally, there is a point where you can be too honest, and these folks who’ve shared their stories talk about that, as well. What about you? What do you think? In what ways has being authentic helped you in your job search and career? How honest is too honest? Are honesty and authenticity the same?

• For more job-hunting success stories, head over to How I Got My Job
• For more other job-hunting and career development advice, be sure to check out more stuff here at Get That Job!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 9 Sites for Successful Job Interviews
• What to Say When You’re Laid Off
• How To Create An Interview Preparation List
• Can You Tell Me Something About Yourself? Don ‘t Let That Question Stop You Cold

Tags: authenticity, honesty, interviewing, job hunt

23 Nov 08 Real people, real job-hunting success stories!

In January 2008 I announced my intention to create an internet radio program (podcast) of job-hunting success stories, entitled How I Got My Job. Over the several months that have followed, I have recorded several interviews and am now beginning to release them. Last week I released the initial episode: Intro and How I Got My Job as an Environmental Engineer.

I plan to release these interviews each week and for this project to be a sister project of Get That Job! If you’d like to share one of your job-hunting success stories, be it your current one or a former one, send your contact information to successstories AT howigotmyjob DOT com

Speaking of interviews (hat-tip to Ed Ovett)…

—-
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

Related tags: getthatjob, get+that+job, job+hunt, job+search, career+advice, networking, professional+development, daniel+johnson+jr

Tags: job hunt, job search, podcast

17 Feb 07 Job-hunting success story – right out of college

I am very proud of how I landed my first job out of college, which seems like ages ago in internet time. I had spent lots of time at the library, researching the hidden job market and looking for leads. I had posted a resume at the University of Cincinnati’s Career Development and Placement office, and I guess they made a database available to recruiters.

My sister had recommended a book entitled 300 New Ways to Get a Better Job by Eleanor Baldwin. I found that very useful and would recommend it to any graduate or especially students in an online degree program, since they don’t have access to a career center.

One summer day in 1994, Mark, the Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager for a company that manufactured decorative items for homes, called me. What was meant as an initial screening call turned into a full-fledged telephone interview. When I hung up, I had made an appointment for an in-person interview. Not having a car of my own, I was able to borrow a friend’s. I spent the next days before the interview at the library, researching all I could on the company.

At the interview my enthusiasm for the position as an Environmental Engineer was strengthened, especially as I convinced Mark to take me on a quick tour of the plant. I made sure to share some of the information I had found from my own research, which seemed to impress Mark and Jim, the HR Manager who also attended the interview. At the end of the interview, I asked what more I could do to qualify for the job, conveying my strong interest.

Immediately when I returned home, I typed up a thank you note to both Mark and the HR Manager who also interviewed me. Then I both faxed and mailed it.

Within a week Mark called me to offer me the job. I accepted it and wound up moving an hour north to Dayton, Ohio, where I lived for ten years.

The Internet has certainly changed the way we can look for jobs and how employers can find us. This worked for me back in 1994.

Do you have a job-hunting success story you’d like to share? Please send it to me at daniel [at] getthatjobonline [dot] com.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search success+stories daniel+johnson+jr

Note: I’ve updated this post to include some additional links to affiliates and others that I recommend you check out.

Tags: Employment, interview, job hunt, University of Cincinnati