Archive for April, 2010

Activate and Manage Your Avatars

April 26th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Avatar!Your avatars aren’t blue and sparkly and on another planet, like the ones in the movie of the same name.  But, they are in another world: Cyberspace (or maybe we should call it “Google-Bing-Blekko-space”).

In a sense, we’ve been using avatars in our job search for years. We called them “résumés,” and they are still important today, particularly  when you are reaching out to potential employers. 

Your 21st Century Avatars Bring Employers to You

Unlike resumes, which are similar in function to a product sales brochure, the new, 21st century avatars are more like a smart marketing campaign attracting employers and jobs to you!  You aren’t trying to find employers, employers are finding you because they are finding your avatars everywhere.

Seen Avatar, the movie?  (No?  GO!  Or watch the DVD!)  Picture your avatars in cyberspace, showing you at your best - demonstrating your skills and knowledge, cataloging your accomplishments and education, collecting and displaying recommendations, helping you pull the jobs in to you rather than you reaching out for them.

You don’t have a 21st century avatar? You could!  You should!  And you probably do, whether or not you know it.  Here’s how… (more…)

New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight of the Week

April 22nd, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

This week, we introduce the topic of Fortune 500 Job Search and welcome Laura Labovich, Job-Hunt’s newest Expert. Laura will help job seekers understand the recruiting and hiring practices of the employers on the FORTUNE magazine’s list of the 500 largest USA-based companies, from the perspective of someone with 12 years of experience recruiting for Disney and AOL.

Career Spotlight: Business Analysts – $74,000/year, with expected 10-year job growth of 22%. More about other careers in Job-Hunt’s Career Changers’ Guide.

21st Century Job Search Revolution

April 19th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Job search has been changing for quite a while, and the changes are picking up speed.

In the Age of Google, what you do online has an impact on your career, both negative and positive.  Learn how it works, and what you can do to both leverage it and to protect yourself.

For follow-on information, based on the questions the audience asked during this presentation, read the blog post, On-Brand Tweeting for Your Career.”

For another presentation on this topic, watch Online Reputation Management for Job Seekers.

This is the presentation I made in New Hampshire on April 9, 2010 at the Spring New Hampshire Women in Higher Education Leadship (NHWHEL), a great group!

New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight

April 16th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Introducing the Self-Employment Option,  a and important category for Job-Hunt which means a new Expert, too!  Welcome B. Michelle Pippin founder of WomenWhoWow who is now Job-Hunt’s Self-Employment Expert.

And, four great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week:

Career Spotlight: Professional Electricians – $44,000/year, with expected 10-year job growth of 7%. More about other careers in Job-Hunt’s Career Changers’ Guide.

On-Brand Tweeting for Your Career

April 15th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Last week, I had the honor of speaking to a very smart, and congenial, group of professional women at the New Hampshire Women in Higher Education Leadership (NHWHEL).  My topic was 21st century job search and career management, so – of course – I spoke about Twitter.

I encouraged my audience to focus on Tweeting “on brand” for their careers.  Near the end of the talk, one of the questions focused on what an on-brand Tweet would look like – what it would contain and how it would be worded. That’s when I realized I had a gaping hole in my presentation.

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New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight

April 10th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Job-Hunt is happy to announce that Deb Dib has returned to her post as Job-Hunt’s Executive Job Search Expert!

Career Spotlight: Respiratory Therapy Providers – $47,000/year, with expected 10-year job growth of 23%. More about other careers in Job-Hunt’s Career Changers’ Guide.  

New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight

April 3rd, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

You Asked the Green Jobs Job Search Expert – now, read the results!. Great info on green jobs from Carol McClelland author of Green Careers for Dummies…

Career Spotlight for this week: Market Researchers – $59,000/year, with expected 10-year job growth of 20%. More about other careers in Job-Hunt’s Career Changers’ Guide.

And, three great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week:

Don’t forget to visit Job-Hunt’s  Job-Hunt Help LinkedIn Group. Introduce yourself to the Group by telling us the job you want and the location.  And join in the Discussions, check out the Jobs, and review the News.

Avoiding the Most Common Job Search Blunder

April 1st, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

If I could bestow one gift on all job seekers, it would be the wisdom to avoid the most common job search blunder I see – not being focused and clear on what they want their next job to be and not sharing that with their network.

Figuring out what job you want and can do is NOT your network’s job to do for you.  That is YOUR job to do for your network!

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