You can do a lot of this online.
By Me. For EBONY. Check out some of the article below:
Did you know that even with a spotless résumé, you can still end up at the bottom of the candidate pool? There’s a group ahead of you, a group that’s gone the extra step in their search. Who am I talking about? The networkers.
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is more than a poignant cliché, especially in today’s market. A good number of the people interviewing for the job you know you’re qualified for found a way to “warm up” their application. And if they don’t land this job, there will be other interviews because they already have people selling for them—if even just a few words. It could be as simple as “This person has been active on our Facebook page,” or “I’ve engaged with this person on Facebook/Twitter. Their application is worth taking a looking at.”
Referral candidates may not always get interviewed, but they at least get an optimistic look because someone within the company recommended them, or allowed them to use their name while applying. That’s when the spotless résumé gets to do the talking. And if it does its job, the candidate gets to do the talking next.
Networking doesn’t just mean popping up at every job fair. You also have social media platforms at your disposal that make it easy to connect with people at companies you’d like to work for, or industries you’d like to work in. Here are a few simple ways to step up your social networking game.
Effective networking on LinkedIn is more than sending out invites. It’s about joining groups, engaging in conversation and reaching out to people with relevant backgrounds and saying, “I checked out your page and was impressed with your background. I’m also in X field and would love to have you in my network.”
If your approach is on point, the person you reach out to, or members of the group you’re commenting in, will visit your profile. If they’re equally impressed at what they see, they may keep you in mind if an opening comes up, or be more likely to reply when you reach out to them. You’ll also hear about jobs that you may not have had access to otherwise. And guess what you get to write on the application when you see “How did you hear about this position?”
A real person.
Click here to read the rest over at EBONY.com.
Rich
Hi Rich,
I love your posts!!
Do you have any tips on creating a professional portfolio? I’ve heard this is important…
I’m interested in big DOs and DONT’s, physical v. electronic, and how to use either in an interview.
Thank you!!!
Hi Li,
What line of work are you in?
Rich
I am a Social Worker with a management/policy/business slant. I have had a strong non-profit career and have done everything from outreach, fundraising, training, strategic planning- you name it. I have a Master’s degree in social work and really enjoy creating/improving systems that are related to service.
From what I’ve seen, portfolios aren’t essential for those fields. A strong CV and cover letter and whatever else the application requires usually do the trick. If you enjoy creating and improving systems, you should be armed with stories where you’ve walked in, saw things in shambles, and how when you walked away, things were better than when they started.
If you want to bring something to an interview, you can create a process map or mind map for how you solve problems/solved a problem. Maybe something fancy with bubbles and clouds show casing all the questions you ask yourself when solving a problem.
Shorter Answer: I don’t think it’s critical for you to have a portfolio unless you’re consulting or doing creative design work. But if you want to have something, create a one-pager that creatively shows your talent and why you enjoy doing what you’re doing. Hope this helps.
Thank you, great suggestions! I will look into the process map idea.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I’m going to try to approach some persons on Linkedin.