A while back I posted that I was looking for someone to help with some of the site development tasks and social media efforts related to Higher Ed Career Coach and my other websites (Primarily AthensGACareerCoach.Com). The initial interest and buzz on Twitter soon gave way to the sound of crickets chirping, and the application deadline passed without anyone applying. (Insert sad face here.)
I set the idea aside for a while, because I have been busy with clients, their resumes, and other issues, figuring that if there wasn’t any interest, I would just keep doing what I have been doing, and hope for the best. Then, in late January, I received a tweet from Melissa Judy, asking if the position had been filled. We struck up a conversation over Twitter and then e-mail and I told her how she might apply.
Not long after, I received her application and interviewed her over Skype, and I can honestly say she is exactly what I have been looking for in an intern. Melissa brings experience as a writer and content developer, as well as the perspectives of a somewhat non-traditional learner to the table.
Melissa graduated from George Mason University with a bachelor of arts in English in 2004. She
continues to support her fraternity, Zeta Tau Alpha, as an alumna member. Upon graduating, she spent time in the Army, but was injured in basic training and unfortunately had to be chaptered out. She then spent 4 years as an emergency veterinary technician before rediscovering her love of academia. While working in veterinary medicine, she met and married an Army officer before moving to Daytona Beach, FL. While there, Melissa worked in the Alumni Relations office at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as a Communications Specialist. In addition to her alumni duties, she consistently volunteered to work with the Student Activities Office there and greatly enjoyed working with undergraduate students.
In the fall of 2010, Melissa began pursuing an online master of science in higher education administration at Drexel University and expects to complete her degree in August, 2012. Her interests lie in Greek Life, student leadership, alumni relations, communications, orientation and first year programs.
Over the remainder of the semester, I’ll be working with Melissa to develop some new resource pages and anchor content, and teaching her the ins and outs of running a small business blog. Please welcome Melissa and congratulate her on her new position. She can be reached at melissa@higheredcareercoach.com
Keeping track of your applications and all the related communications between yourself and potential employers is one of the biggest challenges of the job search. Some people use paper lists, some use Excel sheets, and for papers, mail, and important documents, some people use folders and pocket portfolios.
All of that is well and good, and you should definitely use whatever works for you. But there are so many tools available for free on the internet that will make it easier for you to keep track of information. One category of tools, called Social CRM tools, can help you track your communication, follow up with your contacts, and get more information about your contact or your target employer, so you can develop a more comprehensive profile.
I use one of these CRM (Customer Relationship Management or Contact Relationship Management systems) to keep track of information and learn more about my contacts: Gist. (Available at Gist.Com) Gist aggregrates information from your e-mail, calendar and social media interactions and searches the internet for public information to give you a better view of a person or company in your network. In the video, I provide an overview of how Gist works and some ideas about how you can use it to keep track of your job search.
If you like this video, please like it, leave a comment here, and share it with your networks. You can also subscribe to the higheredcareercoach channel to get new videos as I publish them.
Looking for a job in Student Affairs?
Join me and Laura McGivern from theSASearch.Org at 11:30 am ET today (Wednesday) for the #sasearch hashtag chat. We’re talking about keeping track of your job applications and following up with employers about your status. Use the hashtag #sasearch and join in, or use TweetChat or a similar tool to follow the chat.
A good résumécaptures and keeps the attention of the person reading it, and creates in that person a desire to know more about you. Hopefully, that desire will lead the reader to seek out more information about you and to put your candidacy into context. This could mean that the reader goes on to read your cover letter, if they haven’t already. It could mean that you get invited to interview for the position. But it’s not likely that someone will just read your résumé and offer you a job.
Résumés are used by employers for screening candidates, but interviews are used for selecting the best qualified person for the job. So think of your resume as a ticket. It gets you in the door, so you can continue making a case for your candidacy.
If you’ve never been on the hiring side of the table, the screening process may be foreign to you. So let’s dive into that part of the process and try to understand it.
Screening can happen in many different ways.
A single person might do it.
A committee might do it.
Sometimes, a machine might do it. (Initially.)
But let’s not confuse the issue. They are all looking for the same things. You might call them keywords or key concepts or key phrases, but essentially they are the same thing.
A keywordis not the same thing, necessarily, as a “buzzword.” It can be, but it really depends. Many job seekers spend time consulting websites, résumé books, and their colleagues and mentors about what the latest hot topics are in their industry. The difference between a “buzzword” and a keyword is this: a “buzzword” is a word that everyone is talking about; it may or may not relate to the position you are applying for; a keyword is a term that relates directly to the specific role to be played, and therefore, is directly relevant.
It’s important to recognize the difference between these two concepts. One (using “buzzwords”) is a cynical ploy that may lack coherence; the other (using keywords) is a smart, strategic move that brings together the aspects of your unique offering, and shows the match between what you offer and the employer’s needs.
This post is an adapted excerpt from my e-book, 7 Points to a Winning Resume, which is available for $10 and comes with a $25 discount you can apply toward a resume-writing or career coaching package.
The New Year is a time when many of us re-evaluate our goals and set new ones. The top resolution people make, according to an article at About.Com, is to spend more time with family and friends. (50% of us place that as our top priority.) Other common ones are to lose weight, get organized and get out of debt. And many of us, whether we say so or not on surveys, l0ok forward to moving on in our careers.
Spring is typically the “high season” for academic job searches, since many institutions begin the hiring season for the next fiscal year in July, and the next academic year in August. Associations sponsor placement conferences, and job boards start to fill with ads.
If you are searching in academia, it’s a great time to get your act together. Here are 5 tips for kick-starting your job search.
Write up all the major elements you will be looking for in a job, including type of institution, roles you would enjoy, salary range, geographic location, size of department, place within the organization, daily tasks, office environment. Don’t leave anything out that you consider important. Write toward the ideal job and let yourself imagine yourself in that ideal situation. Don’t filter yourself. This is about reflecting on your priorities. Later, you will gauge your opportunities against this ideal (and yes, non-existent) position.
Make a list of your top 5 “must haves” (things that a position must include) and top 5 “deal-breakers” (those aspects of a position that you are unwilling to perform). Gauge every position you consider against them. Do not apply for any job that doesn’t have your “must haves” or includes your “deal-breakers.” Trust yourself enough to know what you have to do, and will not do. If you do not find any jobs to apply for, then it’s time to sit with a coach, a mentor, a trusted colleague, or a counselor to figure out it you have realistic expectations for your job search.
Update your résumé or CV. If you are self-directed, and have generally been getting good results, you may need to only do a minor brush-up. Check out my guide 7 Points to a Winning Résumé for ideas about how to write a targeted résume that gets you more interviews. It’s $10 and you get some great extras, including a $25 discount on my coaching or résumé writing packages if you decide you’d rather have professional help. Go to the sales page for more information.
Get social. Networking has always been a great way to get job leads and to understand job roles, formal and informal rules of particular organizations, and the work environment you might be joining. Social networking can extend your reach. The role of social media in the job search has changed drastically over the past few years. It’s no longer a luxury but a basic skill. If you don’t “get” social, you will differentiate yourself in a bad way.
One more thing you can do, if you need some help: talk to a coach. Contact me to set up a free coaching consultation.
I finally finished my first e-book, which I am calling
“7 Points to a Winning Résumé.”
It’s $5 until December 30, and $10 after that. It comes with some special offers.
I have a great salespage you should check out if you are interested, with an overview of the e-book and what else you get. Please feel free to tell your friends and colleagues!
If you are not interested, come back later for more of the regular articles and advice you find here.
And if you have a break from work this month, enjoy it. I hope this month brings you happiness and good times with friends and family.
Work with Sean. I help higher ed professionals take control of their careers with tailored services including resume and CV development, LinkedIn profile optimization and networking strategy, interview coaching, and one-on-one career guidance.
I’ll make this post short
