Networking Online

I joined an interesting website recently, Quora. At this site, people write questions and respond to questions on all sorts of topics. This one caught my attention because of its relevance to interviewing, a favorite topic of mine: What are the ways to utilize 6 months to build skill-set to get into Facebook or Google?

A recent college grad interested in a programming position with Facebook or Google asked for some career advice. Another recent college grad, Rick Viscomi, answered the question by describing his experience getting rejected four times from the jobs he applied for with Facebook and Google. I loved his response!

His path to finally getting the job included some great insights that apply to most job seekers:

1. Get solid interview experience. Don’t practice during the interview and don’t assume you know what you are doing. Think about how you will answer frequently asked questions, especially “tell me about yourself” in a way that responds to what the interviewers want to know.
2. Sell your passions as strengths. Does the job you seek really match up with your passions? If not, you might not be able to sell yourself as well as if you go for a position right up your alley. Consider how your passions can be strengths during the interview.
3. Don’t rush into anything. Learn to sell yourself so you can get the job you want. Just because it doesn’t happen immediately doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
4. Find your niche. Rick says, “Hone your technical skills and do everything you can with what you’ve got to keep learning and pushing your career forward.” Do this even while you are not working. Work at your job search and keep your job skills honed through volunteer work and association activities. This is your niche. Own it.
5. Maintain a healthy amount of optimistic persistence. I can write blog after blog about the importance of optimistic persistence. This characteristic is critical. Keep at it even if you get rejected. Rick says, “Don’t give up.”

Finding a job requires hard work and persistent optimism. Don’t give up.

Check out the interesting information you can find on Quora. Comment on a few articles. Ask a few questions. This is another place to make yourself known and build contacts and relationships that will serve you well in the future. This is another way to network!