Job Search

7 Reasons to Use LinkedIn for Networking

March 6, 2012 By Katherine Burik

LinkedIn can be a crucial linchpin to your job search. It makes networking easy. Here are some reasons why:

Everyone is on it. It is hard to find people who are NOT on LinkedIn.
Recruiters use it to find candidates. So if you want to be seen, you have to put yourself out there.
You can catch up with people you knew years ago. I found a friend from college I haven’t spoken to in almost 20 years. It felt good. You never know where that leads.
Stimulating discussions. This is a chance to put yourself out there. Participating in discussions increases your visibility.
Local focus if you want. You can use it to keep up with what is going on in your industry, profession, or community.
Helps shy people “talk” to people they don’t know yet. It is easier than cold calling on the phone.
You control the information you put out on LinkedIn. Put your best foot forward.

The biggest reasons people give about not networking on LinkedIn are related to privacy. But the reasons to use LinkedIn far outweigh any privacy concerns, especially when you control the information you provide!

Researching a Future Employer . . .

August 23, 2011 By Marta Goertzen

This article (below) offers some good information on how to research employers. One more site I would add to this conversation: ReferenceUSA. It’s a great source, and for the price of a library card (still FREE), you gain access to detailed information about 10.5 million different companies. Go visit the Reference desk at the library; they’ll teach you how to use ReferenceUSA.

How a New Grad Can Research an Employer
Posted by: Angela Astley
New Grad Life

A potential employer’s website is a great source of information. But don’t overlook independent resources.

Among these is business directory Hoovers, www.hoovers.com, which provides overviews of public corporations and insight into where companies stand in particular industries.

Not only will Hoovers help you research a potential employer, it provides you with information you can use in an interview. “I know you are the second-largest maker of (fill-in the blank) in the world but, with your recent acquisition of XYZ Company, I see you’re closing in on Mega Corp, the company in the number one spot.” Wow. Who wouldn’t hire you?

Another source of employer information is Vault, www.vault.com. Although access to Vault’s Gold Surveys requires a subscription, Vault provides a lot of free details about companies. One of the many terrific things about the site is that you can search by company or browse by industry.

At Vault you’ll find facts and figures that can help with your decision-making process and contribute to more successful interviews.

To get the lowdown on how workers view particular companies, visit JobVent, www.jobvent.com, a site where employees share their job experiences. Keep in mind the site leans toward the negative because people typically vent when they’re unhappy.

Finally, if there’s a particular issue you want to research about a potential employer, try entering the organization’s name and a brief description of the issue at search engine Google. Thanks to social networking sites and the proliferation of online discussions, you’re likely to find someone talking about your topic.

Making a Decision

Once you’ve researched a potential employer, you’re in a position to make an informed decision-about whether you should apply for or take a position with the organization.

And, hey, thanks to technology, your investigative work has been done from the comfort of your home.

A Favorite Cousin and an Informational Interview

December 8, 2010 By Marta Goertzen

The Intern Files – get a copy before you intern

January 18, 2010 By Marta Goertzen

Have you ever read something that caused you to say “exactly!”? I had such an experience last week reading a book called “The Intern Files” (available on Amazon) by a fellow who interned for a talk show in New York. His name is Jamie Fedorko. Being a native New Yorker, he does have a bit of an edge to his writing style, and he does have a tendency to work in some pretty in-your-face humor in kind of a hip, waste-no-words writing style.

Fedorko very thoroughly covers the process: Getting the Internship (Part I), The First Day (Part II), How to be the Perfect Intern (Part III), Social Etiquette at the Office (Part IV) and The Beginning of the End (Part V). Looking at these five titles, these five chunks to the book, does it sound kind of boring? It’s anything but. Fedorko shares an uncommon knowledge of the secrets to successful interning. And he seems to have a lot of articulate friends who share their stories as vignettes with each chapter. In a way this book choreographs a whole panel of internship experts.

You may be surprised by his candor. Interns can get abused if they’re not careful. Being the low person on the totem pole has some uncomfortable moments. He addresses topics that do happen to interns; like getting invited to an after-hours party, and being expected to drink with the boss, or getting hit on by another intern. How do you handle roommates who like to party when you need to be to work in the morning? He’ll cover it and have some experts share their stories.

I’m a fan of this book. The message is so dead on that you cannot consider interning without reading this book. You will learn more in the first chapter than you will glean from a whole class on the topic from a lesser source – it’s that clear and readable and detailed in it’s description of what successful interning is all about.

Life after College and That First Job, Now What?

December 29, 2009 By Marta Goertzen

I have a young friend whom I’ve known since she was born. I don’t think she’d want me to use her real name, so I’ll call her Jane. She worked hard in school, got a lot of A’s, and earned her way into a prestigious journalism school.

Jane’s college experience was well planned. She obtained a couple of summer internships on her own, one with a bank, one with a large manufacturing company, both in our home town. The College of Journalism experience included three internships, including one at the Washington Post, one in Thailand, and one in Naples, Florida, all three allowing Jane to use her knowledge of the Internet as an intern beat reporter. She started her career at the Las Vegas Sun last June as a beat reporter, responsible for a community-linked blog in a small town outside of Las Vegas.

In early November, Jane experienced first-hand the massive change going on in the newspaper business; her first career upheaval! She found herself looking for a job.

In early December, we talked about what she needed to do to take her next step in her career. She told me she planned to look at Denver, Las Angeles, and Washington D.C. Would she return to the world of journalism? Wasn’t sure yet. She was working on her resume.

During the holidays, in fact December 27th, I saw Jane again. She has a trip planned to D.C. in mid-January; she has two jobs she is planning to apply for in Washington. She presently has no interviews scheduled, no informational meetings planned, and a contact list of two people. She wanted me to look carefully at her resume to perhaps tweak it a bit, so that she could apply for these two jobs. If you were advising Jane, what would you tell her? What should she do to get ready for her D.C. trip? What components of the job search process should she be most concerned about addressing right now?