#10factsaboutme and the Job Interview

I was looking to see if something I put on my Facebook business page showed up on Twitter and I got distracted by the trending information. Along with Frank Kaminsky’s new baby, a Canadian hockey player named Drew Doughty and NASCAR there was something called #10factsaboutme. There among the random facts about people (“I sweat when I meet new people” or “I’m in love with someone who doesn’t know that I exist” or “I have three dogs and a pet mouse”) I thought of something….. What are 10 positive facts that you could share on an interview?

Think about it.  What are your strengths?  Are you a good communicator, a motivational speaker, an impressive problem solver, an outstanding mathematician, a grammar whiz, a great friend, a creative problem solver, a remarkable team player, an outstanding leader or skillful organizer? Why? What specific examples do you have to support these?

Just listing 10 facts about yourself will remind you of your notable strengths and then, coming up with examples of why these are your strengths will help you on your next interview. These facts are real and  make a lot more sense than, “I hate people”. By the way, never say, "I hate people" in an interview.  Someone once asked me if that was an OK  thing to say in an interview.  She wasn't kidding.

Watch What You Say in Social Media

My friend John Fox, The Golden Rule Guy posted an interesting link today that reiterated the point that a whopping 91% of employers are using social media to screen perspective employees. He also stressed that what you post is out there for all to see. Please check out his blog – it is very thought provoking.

John’s post got me thinking not only of the employment process but also of the thousands of high school kids who are right now applying to colleges. Our family went through the college application process last year around this time of year. We had to remind our son that he had to be careful of his Facebook posts and pictures. It’s very easy for a college to look up someone. Even if the security setting protects the “Wall”, the pictures may be open for all to see. Is a college going to think highly of someone with a beer in their hand or openly displaying ummm, affection for someone? And while we’re on the subject, remind your kids that if they leave their Facebook or Twitter pages open and walk away, one of their friends may think it’s funny to write something really gross or inappropriate on the page. I’m probably preaching to the choir here but this is something you may want to stress to your children.

Of course the same rules apply to the internships and the job search. It’s best to look at your profile and ask yourself if based on what you see, you would hire yourself. If anything there makes you question yourself; take it down. While you are at it, take a look at your friend’s posts. If there is anything inappropriate and it shows on your wall, hide it (go to the post and towards the upper right of it, you’ll see a small downward facing arrow. Click it and then click Hide Story).

With social media our words and actions are out there for anyone to see. It’s hard enough to find a job or get accepted to a choice college as it is. Why mess around with it because of something you or someone else posted to a social media outlet?

Using Twitter For Your Job Search

Today I'm going to write about something that I admit, I’m not very good at using – Twitter. I’m pretty savvy with my website (thank you Christine.biz) and blog (thank you me) but Twitter makes me feel amateurish.  I do know that Twitter is already a great learning tool (see Grey's Anatomy Episode 13  about Tweeting in the operating room) and it is a wonderful way to help with your job search.

I have had a Twitter account for about a year.  At first it just sat there and I didn’t have the time to figure out how to follow people or have them follow me.  Slowly, I discovered that Twitter is just one of the many tools that can be used to offer job search advice and help my business; I learned to use it a bit more.  I’m still stumped at some of the lingo and functions, but with time and research, I’ll figure them out.

Since this is a blog on the job search, I thought I’d share with you a couple of ways that you can learn AND look for a job on Twitter.  You first need to sign up for a Twitter account and then connect with people and organizations.  You then need to Tweet, or add content. The Twitter basics in the Help section can walk you through these as well as explain some of the lingo such as # and RT and @.  There are two pieces of advice that I’d like to share to get you started; job search help and looking for jobs (these sound like the same thing but they’re different).

1.       Job Search Help: There are numerous Tweets from companies, individuals or sites on Twitter that offer job search advice.  You can learn how to create a resume, interview, network, look for a job as a new graduate, senior, new mom…. The list goes on.  By simply typing Job Search in the Search box, you’ll be connected with many links and Tweets about the process.  It can be overwhelming though and you’ll need a bit of time to pick through the Tweets.  I found this great list of job search Twitter addresses from Career Rocketeer™.  I’ve bookmarked it and refer to it often.

2.       Looking for a Job: Once you get established and walk through the basic how tos, go to the Search box and type in your job title.  Recently I entered my title, “Learning & Development” and a scrolling list of learning and development jobs appeared.  They were global and domestic listings and many included salaries, companies and recruiting firms.  Most had a URL link or shortened URL link to save character space) that I could click to find out more information including the application process.

Twitter is a good place to connect and network too as many of the Tweets are from people in your field.  You can “Follow” these tweets and you can also post a tweet about your job search.  Since you are allowed 140 characters to type, you can ask something like, “Anyone know of an IT engineering position in NJ?”

These are just two simple ways to use Twitter to help your job search and I am sure there must be hundreds more.  I’m still trying to figure them out.  Please add your suggestions – we could all use the advice!

Twitter and the Job Search

Today I read a report from Jobvite, Inc. (a recruiting platform).  It stated that in the upcoming year, 80% of companies plan to recruit through social networking with 78% using LinkedIn, 55% using Facebook and 45% using Twitter.  The report also notes that many companies are eliminating the added expense of posting job openings to job boards or working with recruiters and plan to move ahead with a push to recruit through social media. 

We've talked about using LinkedIn in your job search but haven't really said much about Twitter or Facebook.  Today I thought I would give you a couple of links to some helpful articles on using Twitter.  While the article from CIO article was published in 2009, it still contains some very useful information on setting up your Twitter account and using it in a way to get you noticed.  I've been Tweeting for a while and I learned a couple of new things from this article. One thing it stated is when setting up your Twitter account, you can link it to your LinkedIn profile.

Another one of my favorite, easy to follow, "go to" sites is About.com.  They have an interesting article about using Twitter to find various job sites. E-How also has some very easy to follow steps on starting up Twitter and using it for your job search.  It even lists some Twitter addresses to get you started.  Finally, I’ve listed Twit Job Search so that you can enter some job titles and see where it takes you.

I’ll have more on this subject soon but I suggest getting started if you haven't already.  That 45% rate is pretty high. My Twitter name is @Nancy_1, feel free to follow me!