Blog

Favorite Apps: Flipboard

Posted on by Michelle

I’ve been using Flipboard for about a year.  It is one of my favorite apps on both Iphone and Ipad.  You can use it to connect to your social media networks and view the information like a magazine. It is particularly nice when people post multiple pictures to Facebook because you can view it much like you would view an old photo album and can flip through them with ease.

I use it to read my Google Reader subscriptions as well. I can flip through articles easily and even share them quickly on Twitter. It makes  scrolling through Twitter more interesting because if there is a link, it pulls the article up as well making it easy to determine if it is something you might want to read.

If you consume a lot of information via Google Reader and your social networks, this is an app I highly recommend.

Twitter Chats and the Job Search

Posted on by Michelle

Earlier this year I read an article by Joshua Waldman over at Career Enlightenment.  He gave a list of 25 Twitter Chats for valuable career advice.  I checked out each of these.  I highly recommend  #HFChat which takes place every Friday at 11 AM (Central).  This chat has the most participation and invaluable advice from HR experts on a variety of topics.  Not only is it a great place to learn tips and get advice, it is a great way to meet and network with recruiters and HR professionals that want to help.

5 tips when your job search has you discouraged.

Posted on by Michelle

Searching for a job is seldom fun and takes a lot of discipline.  What do you do when you get discouraged in your search?  Here are some tips that are helping me.

  • Give yourself permission to take a break and do something fun.  This is important to keep a positive outlook
  • Make sure you are networked with friends who can offer encouragement
  • Get some advice from experts.  These days there are a plethora of places on the Internet to find expert help.  Some help is free.  Some you pay for.  Take advantage of both. Brazen Careerist and Careerealism are great places to start
  • Remember that every day is one day closer to your next job and every rejection is one step closer.
  • Spend time seeking God and staying connected in your local church.

Job Fair ROI

Posted on by Michelle

It’s been several weeks since the job fair I went to and I decided it was time to rethink my posting (Job Fairs: Are They Worth the Investment of Time).  Every job fair is going to be different. Yes, there are a lot of people there.  However, you do get to have face time with potential employers and it is a great way to network with other job seekers.

What happened to change my mind? I got an interview with a company for a job that I think is right up my alley.  I would not have seen this possibility on my own, nor would I have had the interview.  It may only be one interview, but one interview is one more than I had before and one more opportunity to connect.

I have another job fair next week that I am now looking forward to. For those of you out there that are struggling, like me, to find a job, let me encourage you to get out there.

How to find and follow the thought leaders in your industry.

Posted on by Michelle

These days there is so much information out there in just about every industry.  If you are trying to keep up with trends, how do you determine who to listen to? Here are some of the steps that I took to discover the people I follow.

  • Do a search for top blogs in your industry
  • Do a Twitter search for people in your industry
  • Do some research and find out who is following the blogs/Twitter accounts and who those people are following.
  • As you research, you will begin to see patterns in the people that are continually referenced and followed. These are likely thought leaders and influencers in your industry.
  • Follow these leaders and they will lead you to other influencers

What tips do you have?

 

3 Job Search Blogs I Follow

Posted on by Michelle

Part of my job search plan involves following job search blogs.  Following these blogs gives me insight, ideas, and continued motivation as I work toward finding my next job.  What follows are three job search sites I discovered through reading Joshua Waldman’s book Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies (For Dummies (Career/Education))

Tracking Job Applications

Posted on by Michelle

When job hunting, it is important to track where you send applications.  It gives you a reference point when you are contacted and keeps you from applying to the same job multiple times. There are a number of ways to do this.  Some, write down information.  Some use a spreadsheet.  These days there are websites that help you do this. The following are two that I came across an am testing in my own job search.

  • Jobkatch.com: The amount of information you can track through this site is good.  They also have a bookmarklet you can add to your browser to make it easier to input information as you are on job boards.
  • Startwire.com: I just started using this one recently.  The information you can track isn’t quite as detailed.  However, if you get an email response from an application, you can foward it and it will automatically be entered without having to do much of anything.  Other plusses? They will ask you if you would like your resume forwarded to various job sites and you have control of the status of your lead (marking an interview, etc) where jobkatch does not have a way to do this yet

There are other sites out there that I haven’t tried yet.  What do you recommend?

Women I Admire: Gretchen

Posted on by Michelle

I met Gretchen Lange a few years ago.  She was working at the same church that I was working at. We became friends following a discussion one day about Human Trafficking.  We had both been learning about how big a problem it is and that Houston is a hub for it.

As I got to know Gretchen better, I was impressed with her passion for God, for life and for people.  What I admire most about her is that she is, or at least appears to be fearless.  She is not afraid to try new things and she has great business sense.  Her most recent endeavor is Director of Development for CERI.

Gretchen, thanks for your friendship and for helping me become a little bit more fearless.

 

Are there Alternatives to the Traditional Resume?

Posted on by Michelle

I love this day and age of being able to apply for jobs online.  I know how to navigate online and am very comfortable looking for information.  The downside is that it is much more difficult to follow up on applications.  Sometimes it feels like they are sent into the black hole of cyber space.  It also means getting an interview can be difficult.

Being judged solely on my resume has always been frustrating to me.  My resume may or may not get me an interview, but if I can get an interview, it usually goes well. One of my first jobs, I got because the recruiter liked me so much in the interview.  I didn’t qualify for the job I interviewed for.  However, as the recruiter talked with her co-workers about me, they found another position.

I read this article in the Wall Street Journal this week and was encouraged to see companies looking for alternatives to the traditional resume.  This is one upside to having a blog or personal website.  If recruiters do take the time to view my site, I think they get a little better picture of who I am than what I can show on a piece of paper.

What do you think?  Are there better alternatives to the traditional resume?

Job Fairs: Are They Worth the Investment of Time?

Posted on by Michelle

I went to a job fair this morning.  It was the first job fair I have ever been to.  I was glad to see that there were a lot of companies represented. However, as I made my way around the room and through the masses of people, I began to wonder if it was worth the investment of time. I had hoped to take advantage of meeting with people face to face.  However, with so many people, I wondered if I would even be remembered when the day was over.  My resume was added to a stack of others.  Worthwhile to get it in the hands of a hiring manager? Yes, but does it accomplish anything more than submitting a resume online?

Have you been to a job fair?  What was your reaction?