Week 5- LinkedIn: The Online Resume

As many job-hunters today have noticed, many organizations have become more and more digital as technology has grown in society. One of the biggest resources that employers utilize in the modern job search is the social media site LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become the online marketplace for both job-hunters and employers as people can connect with one another on a professional level, much different than other social media sites.

One of the benefits of LinkedIn has is being able to connect people from different organizations on a professional level. If you have worked for an employer and would like to stay connected with people in the field while looking for other opportunities, LinkedIn will allow you to connect with these people. Whether it be by a basic name or company search or sharing the connection information in person, it has not been easier to communicate with people in your job field. As the saying goes, “It is all about who you know” and LinkedIn truly takes that to heart.

Another benefit of Linkedin is the fact that it puts your resume online. This may not be the resume you think of when you hear the word, but it is essentially the same principle. Linkedin allows you to list your job experience, education, skills, awards and memberships and other factors on your profile, making it easy for employers to see what you can bring to the table.

LinkedIn is one of the most beneficial online sites available for people in the professional working world and one that job-hunters should get on. Although I have discussed a lot about what LinkedIn is, I have merely scratched the surface and there is much more that job-hunters should look into. I highly recommend that job-hunters make an account and try it out for themselves, it can only help you in your journey for a new job.

Week 5- What Color is Your Parachute Chapter 3

The hunt for jobs seems like a daunting task for most people looking for new opportunities in the world. In most cases, it seems like it is the employer against the applicants, trying their best to eliminate anyone that doesn’t fit the company as quickly and easy as possible. Although it may feel that way, the applicants are not powerless and actually have a lot of power in the job hunting process.

In the book What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, Bolles discusses how an interview is not just the employer choosing candidates by asking questions, but also an opportunity for the applicant to ask the employer questions to see if it is the right fit for them.

“The job-hunt is a conversation--a two-way conversation--wherein your opinion matters as much as the employer’s,” writes Bolles, “That has always been true. Always will be.”

The interview or even the job-hunting process should never be one person against the world. Applicants should conduct research, ask questions, look for assistance and do as much as they can before they start applying to the job, to be assured that the position is a good fit.

Once that is completed and they are granted an interview, do not allow the employer to control the interview, they want to hear from you. Discuss your best skills, things that they will not be able to see on a resume, and do not be afraid to ask questions during the interview. Once you understand that you have control in the process, the job hunt will become much easier.  

Week 4- Labeling and Organizing Your Blog

Blogs can be tricky. If you are an avid blogger with a lot of followers, you may discuss hundreds of different topics on your blog and could have multiple in one blog alone. If you have a themed blog, sports for example, you may have a blog post about the NFL one week, but then discuss the NBA the next. What if your readers don’t care about the NFL and want to only read the NBA posts? This is where organizing your blog or labeling the posts will help you the most.

Labels are a simple way to organize your blog post. For Blogger (that is the website I currently use for this blog), it is very simple to add your labels. Once you finish a post, go to the right side of the screen and click “Labels” and it will open up a typing screen. Simply type in the label you would like your post to have, going back to the sports blog you could either label it “NFL” or “NBA” and you could give it multiple labels and just simply separate them by commas.

Above you can see how Blogger allows you to label your blog (to the right side of the screen).

Now you need to your readers to be able to see which labels you have in your blog, so they can organize by the posts they want to read. On Blogger, select “Layout” and click “Add a Gadget”. This will give you multiple “gadgets” you can select to place on your blog, click “Labels” then click “Save”. Now your labels will be present on the front page of your blog for all of your readers to select.

Above is an example of the front page of your Blogger blog. (Note the labels to the right) 

Organization of your blog will not only make it easier for you, but your readers. So keep blogging and label up!

Week 4- What Color is Your Parachute Chapter 2

A resume may be the one of the most easily recognized part of job-hunting. Many people have a resume or, at the very least, have heard of or seen a resume. Although a resume is one of the most well-known job hunting in the modern world, employers have used other resources to determine if you are the candidate they are looking for.

One of the most significant tools employers use is the basic Google search. Many college students have been told, “Google yourself, just to see what is out there.” In most cases, a Google search is the simplest way to find out the most about who you are and how you present yourself on the Internet. According to the book What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, the Google search has become so important to job-hunting that, “68% of the time...an employer will offer someone a job because they liked what Google turned up about them.” Check yourself on Google, see if everything out there is presentable and how you want to be shown to employers. If it is not to your liking, fix it by changing your social media profiles (don’t destroy your personality, just make yourself more professional/presentable) and take that next step to getting a job.

Another key tool that some employers are looking for is a portfolio. A portfolio is significant for employers looking to see what you have done in the past, in my field of communications this is key as most employers look to see either published work or your effectiveness of multiple forms of communications. The benefits of a portfolio for a person who is applying for a job is you get to again present yourself how you want to. If you have written a published article or research paper, show employers how and why it got published. If you write a blog (like this one), it may be the difference between getting a job and not. My old blog, Left N’ Right, helped my co-author land an internship his sophomore year because he had experience blogging. Portfolios help employers not only see the skill you have in the field, but also gain more information about who you are and how you operate and the more they know about you, the better your odds are.

Although a resume is significant and does help to get your foot in the door, there are other ways that will help better your chances. Check your “Google resume”, fix it up and make it presentable. Create a portfolio of your achievements in the field so the employer can physically see the successes you have had in the field. Resumes may get the job-hunting spotlight, but they are certainly not the only way you can land a job.

Week 3- My First Attempt at a Facebook Page

This week in our class we learned how to setup a Facebook page and how to get people to follow and like our pages. The blog I created, Logan Hanson’s Digital Marketing, is right now the very basic that a Facebook page can be, but I still recommend that you all follow or like the page. Although I am rather new to Facebook pages, this was not the first page that I created.

Way back when I was younger and had a little more time on my hands, about two years ago, my friend and I decided we were going to jump start our college experience by creating our own sports blog, Left N’ Right. This included our own webpage (using Weebly.com, but now I am a fan of blogger), our own Gmail account, Twitter page and of course a Facebook page. The excitement of having people read our opinions and comment on our posts pushed us to a strong start, but the inexperience of social media marketing made it difficult to remain dedicated.

This is the Facebook page of my first co-authored blog, Left N’ Right. As my friend and I soon learned, our inexperience of social media marketing would be our downfall.

Most of our issues stemmed from lack of time and an overall lack of perseverance. Both being young college students striving for degrees and future jobs in the workforce made our commitment to a “fun hobby” difficult when put up against studying for exams and finishing homework. The other problem was that it felt like we were doing it all for nothing. After an initial growth of followers from our friends and family, the follows stopped coming, the viewership went down and with little time to create new blogs or posts to social media, it seemed that stopping was the easier and most viable option since not many people were reading anyway.

Although the first blog and website did not go the way that either of us wanted it to go, it was a learning experience and drove me to where I am today. Without that struggle, I may not be taking this Social Media Marketing class and learning how my next blog (this blog) can be a successful one. It is because of this that I have no regrets and, maybe some day, Left N’ Right will rise from the dead and get the attention and help it deserves.

Week 3- What Color is Your Parachute Chapter 1

Job-hunting, also known as the most dangerous game for most first time job-seekers or those who have not had to job hunt for some time. To many finding a job seems like the never ending struggle between not having the right skills or doing something wrong. In reality, it's not so much about what skills you do not have, but rather the way you present the skills that you do have.  

In the book What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, Bolles describes the many ways that the modern job hunt has changed from years past. In the first chapter, Bolles discusses the actual difference between us everyday job hunter and those who will choose our fate, the employers. As Bolles puts it, “The ways you hunt for each other are not just different; they are exactly opposite” (Bolles, 13). So how does one avoid this inevitable fight between one ideology and the other, change your approach.

Many of us new job seekers (yes, I am talking to you college students) approach an interview in the same fashion. Typically the same or similar business attire, a good smile, a nicely printed resume and the cookie-cutter introduction that you’ve rehearsed either to your best friend or bathroom mirror a thousand times. Within this lies the problem, how is one supposed to take that next step to the “big” job if one continually pitches themselves the exact same way to different people looking for different things? Luckily, the solution is just as simple.

Present yourself differently, every time. Have different resumes for different job, have different introductions and answers, and approach each interview as a new opportunity to present yourself in a way nobody has seen. This will help you avoid the cookie-cutter routine that most employers get from the people in our age group and you will gain confidence with each interview you do as you are not pressured by wondering if the company will like your “elevator pitch”.

Focus the interview on the skills you do have and make them shine. They are interviewing you so it is in your best interest to show them your best. Most of all, do not be nervous, you are just pitching yourself and that is it. So go out, apply for jobs, be yourself and get a job!

Week 2- Artificial Intelligence and Coding

The subject of artificial intelligence, or AI, in the modern world typically has been seen in two different ways. The first way is an open and unexplored world of possibilities and excitement that would not only make our lives easier, but improve life as a whole. The other way is seeing it as an apocalyptic type overthrow where all jobs are automated and humanity has no purpose in the world but to wait around and die (you know kind of like iRobot or even Wall-E).

This is a typical picture people see when they hear the words artificial intelligence thanks in most part to Hollywood and the internet.

Though there should be some concern in certain sectors about the improving and ever growing field of AI eliminating job opportunities, the idea of artificial intelligence should be looked at in a more positive light. After reading the article, Don’t Delay, No One Can Say (How Soon AI Will Take Jobs Away) by Todd Kelsey, although artificial intelligence is increasing and, in some fields, limiting opportunities, there are still opportunities to be taken advantage of.

According to Kelsey, one of the biggest opportunities in the new AI driven world is coding. Coding is a growing field in business and has had an increased interest over the past few years. According to the Wall Street Journal, coding school population size has risen dramatically over the past four years and coding “boot camps” have become bigger on the national scale than they were five years ago. There may be some fear about losing jobs, but as this article shows, adaptation will always sprout opportunities all we have to do is find it.

It is true that more of the “manual” labor jobs are particularly at risk with automation and AI, however the opportunities in the technological world may be endless. Imagine all that can be accomplished, discovered, improved and fixed with a larger world focus on technology. It may be scary to think about now, but AI is here to stay and adaptation is society’s best bet.