Social Media, and Your Job Search, Gone Mobile

Whether you've got an iOS, Blackberry, or Android baed mobile device, social media is now fully accessible anytime, anyplace, right from that tiny device in your back pocket. Which means for you, job seekers, you can tap into job postings, communicate with companies, and build your online presence from wherever you are. There's several apps on my mobile devices that I've found essential to maintaining an online social presence, and there's some really great ways to tailor these apps to fascilitate an easy, effective online job search.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of my favorite apps, simply because you can manage multiple Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other accounts right from one application. You also have access to your lists and feeds, which if you're following a lot of people can help you sort through them. My advice for you job hunters out there would be to create a few lists- your favorite job hunt advice gurus, companies you'd like to work for, accounts that push out job opportunity posts- and access them a few times a day, on your morning commute or your afternoon coffee break.

You can grab Hootsuite on your iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android devices.

Twitter

While Hootsuite can manage most accounts on its own, I still really like having the Twitter app installed for those times where I just want to access tweets. The app also allows you to view your diect messages, see who's been following or retweeting you, and view the Discover section, one of my favorite features of the new Twitter. Using Discover, you can easily view and track trending topics, hashtags that interest you, and see who to follow. During your job search, monitoring those hashtags and direct messages can be imperative, so be sure and install Twitter as soon as you create your own account.

Twitter is available for iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone 7.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the professional and career social network, so having access to it wherever you go is key to an effective job search. On the application, you'll be able to access your Feed, check up on your Groups, read messages in your inbox, search for colleagues and connections, and update your profile. Definitely not a replacement for the full, desktop experience, but definitely a great way to squeeze in some networking between those interviews and phone calls.

LinkedIn is available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Palm devices.

Have you used any other mobile apps in your job search? Tell us in the comments.

Are You Job Hunting in the NYC Area?

So far I've blogged a lot about what I've learned becoming a social media marketer- today I'd like to talk about where I've learned it.

I execute social media for two staffing firms based in New York City, trying to find them great candidates like you, dear readers, for them to place in their exciting job openings.

Russell Tobin & Associates is a great place to start your job search, especially after college. They're who found me my position here at Pride Technologies and I couldn't be happier. And they staff for pretty much everything you can think of, from IT to legal to administrative work.

To learn more about Russell Tobin, visit their website, or check them out on Facebook.

If you're looking for something within the healthcare industry, Pride Healthcare is who to turn to. From nurses to direct care workers to medical transcriptionists, they will work hard to place you in a job you'll love in a location that is convenient for you.

You can find out more about Pride Healthcare on their website and on Twitter.

What great resources have you discovered in your job search? Let us know in the comments. 

Beyond the Profile: How to Succeed on LinkedIn

Beyond the Profile: How to Succeed on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an incredible resource in an online job search, but must be used effectively. When I first started using the site, I thought just making a profile was the key to finding and getting my perfect job. But it isn’t. After using LinkedIn in my own social media recruiting efforts, I’ve found that people who follow these steps are most effective at creating an online presence for themselves on LinkedIn, which can be used to achieve your career goals.

Complete your profile.

It’s one thing to create a LinkedIn profile; it’s another thing entirely to complete it. You might not think that adding a profile photo, updating your skills and specialties, or linking your Twitter account will all aid your job search efforts, but they will! LinkedIn is all about creating an online, professional presence for yourself, so the more a potential employer can learn about you right on your page, the better.

Connect!

Connecting with former employers, colleagues, and friends can aid tremendously in your job search. You never know who they might be able to connect you with, and a job search can be just as much about who you know as what you know.

Join some groups.

It’s easy to join groups on LinkedIn- just search for groups in your field, your high school and college, and your area. Staying active in groups that interest you will lead to more connections, and therefore more contacts. Plus, groups are a great way to find job postings that might not show up on other job boards, or even in LinkedIn searches.

Search and apply for positions.

My favorite thing about LinkedIn is the job postings. It’s really simple to find and apply for jobs on LinkedIn, and once you upload a resume and cover letter to the site, it takes mere moments to send in your application. You can view all of your applications in one area, so it’s easy to keep track of what you’ve applied for and where. And since you’re applying for a position on the site, whoever receives your application will have easy access to your LinkedIn profile so they can learn more about you, which is why it's so important to keep your profile up to date.       

Recommend former colleagues.

I feel great writing a recommendation for former colleagues, not only because it gives me a chance to help someone out, but because it helps me flex my writing muscles. It shows that I'm engaging with my LinkedIn connections. When you're recommending someone, think about all the great things you're saying about them, and think about how you'd like others to view you. 

What have you found effective on LinkedIn? Tell us in the comments. 

10 Twitter Terms You Need to Know For Your Job Search

10 Twitter Terms You Need to Know For Your Job Search
Navigating Twitter is a lot like learning another language. Before you dive into this powerful online job search tool, read my glossary of Twitter terms that are key to a successful job search.

Tweet
A tweet is a message, using 140 characters or less, and can be about anything you choose. You can include links, photos, or videos. Adding hashtags, tweeting about a trending topic, or tweeting at another Twitter user can get your message seen by more people. We’ll talk more about these things shortly.

@
Talking directly to another Twitter user is usually referred to as an “@”. In a job search, communicating directly with a potential employer’s Twitter account could give you a competitive edge, since you’re expressing interest and engaging with the brand before you even go in for an interview. It’s also a great way to ask questions and find out more about what a company is like before you go for that position.

Re-Tweet
You’ll want to re-tweet another Twitter user’s messages when they’re relevant, funny, or interesting. This creates a direct copy of their message, which shows it to your followers. If the message is less than 140 characters you’ll be able to include a comment of your own.

Direct Message
On Twitter, a direct message is a private way to communicate with another user. It’s a personal way to connect with a company or

Klout
Klout is a website that compiles all your social media efforts and translates it into a number, between 1-100, based on your engagement with your follower base. Klout score is pretty relevant to using Twitter as a job source, as the top scoring Klout users within a certain topic, such as “job search” or “resumes”, are important people to follow when you’re job hunting on Twitter.

Following
These are people that you’re following on Twitter. The more people you follow, especially if they’re relevant to your field, the more people who will follow you. Finding people to follow is pretty simple. Twitter will suggest other users who seem relevant, you can explore other people’s pages and see who they’re following/followed by, and clicking on hashtags or trending topics that interest you will lead you to people just like you.

Followers

Followers mean you’re doing a good job on Twitter! Tweeting often about yourself, connecting with people you follow, and efficient use of hashtags and trending topics will reward you with followers. Be sure and follow them back if you’re interested in what they’re talking about, and start engaging!

Hashtag
Anything with a # in front of it is considered a hashtag, and these are one of the most important features of Twitter especially in a job search. You’re going to want to look for people using #hiring, #jobs, #careers, etc, because these are people tweeting about online job hunting, and may even be posting links to jobs or companies that are hiring. When you’re tweeting about your job search efforts, be sure to include hashtags like #jobsearch or #ineedajob, you never know who might see you and try to help out!

Reply
When you want to publicly respond to someone’s tweet, a reply is the best thing to use. Replies are a great way to get a conversation started, and you can even reply to multiple Twitter users at once.

Trending

Trending topics change by the minute, so it’s important to stay on top of them. The more you engage and talk about trending topics, which you’ll find on the left side of your Twitter feed, the more people will notice your tweets.

Can you think of anything else we might need to know about Twitter? Discuss it in the comments.

Navigating Your Online Job Search

We’re not in Kansas anymore, and this isn’t your mom and dad’s job search either. With the advent of mobile technology, social media, and digital marketing, finding a job is no longer as easy as opening the newspaper and scanning the wanted ads. It’s competitive, it’s frustrating, and it can take a long time. But did you know that the social media outlets that you browse while you’re procrastinating on your online employement search can become the very tools that help get you your next great job? Here are my three favorite places to look for jobs online, and they’re not what you’d expect.

Twitter

Twitter is great for connecting with friends, staying updated on the latest online deals, and learning more about your favorite celebrities, but did you know it’s also one of the best places on the internet to search for a job? Twitter is like a constantly updating job board, except that when you connect with a company or recruiter on Twitter as opposed to somewhere like Craigslist or Indeed (where you’ll often get lost in the shuffle), there’s more often than not a community manager or social media strategist running that account, who will engage with their followers, answer questions, and keep you as updated and informed as possible.

For a great example of what job searching on Twitter can be like, you can check out the two pages that I run, @Russell_Tobin & @Pride_Health.

Facebook

There’s a lot more job search possibilities on the world’s most popular social networking site than you might realize. For one, there’s BranchOut, a Facebook partner that takes all your listed work experience, connections, and profile information on FaceBook and converts it into a professional, LinkedIn-esque profile, and also puts you in touch with thousands of job postings on Facebook.

There’s also thousands of company Pages on Facebook, allowing members to connect with potential dream jobs.

Plus, it always helps to keep your educational and job experience updated on your personal profile. You never know who a friend, or a friend of a friend, might know!

LinkedIn

LinkedIn may be the most obvious social networking site you can use to find a job- but that doesn’t mean it’s the most straightforward or requires less work than Facebook or Twitter. Having an up to date, fully filled out LinkedIn profile is incredibly important in a job search, as is having the right connections. Connect with former classmates, teachers, and employers, and encourage them to provide you with recommendations as well as provide them with some. Recommending others, as well as having them recommend your work, will show that you’ve engaged in previous jobs.

LinkedIn also has its own job boards, where companies post open positions. And like Facebook and Twitter, companies create LinkedIn pages, allowing job seekers to connect with the companies they’re most interested in working for.

Where has your online job search taken you? Tell us in the comments.

Welcome to my blog!

Greetings job seekers, hiring enthusiasts, and readers!

My name's Cortney, and like most people, I enjoy working and having a job. But like many of you out there, I know how difficult it can be to get one, whether you're a recent college grad, transitioning between careers, or just looking for something new.

Luckily, I'm here to help. Working for several leading recruitment and staffing firms in New York City and alongside some of the best recruiters in the business, I've learned the ins and outs of the hiring process and what you can do to make finding your dream job a lot easier.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, via email, or in the comments. Introduce yourself, ask me anything, and enjoy the rest of my blog!

Preparing For Your Future Job Search While Still in College

In May, I was a recent college graduate, job searching wherever I could, working part time in retail. Now, six months later, I’m working a job I love in New York City. So how did I do it?

Through my unconventional but very fulfilling journey through my undergraduate degree and subsequent job search, here’s three key things I learned about how to successfully prepare yourself for the workforce and a career that you’ll love.

Work as much as possible while you’re in school. While it might be appealing to just go to class, do homework, and relax in the evening and on the weekend, having a job throughout your time in college can really give you a competitive edge. It’s an easy way to prove to future employers that you can manage your time, hold onto a job, and balance your priorities.

Get an internship. I cannot stress enough how important an internship is during college, especially your senior year. You wouldn’t believe the amount of internships that can lead to a career, whether the internship turns into a paid position, your internship employer recommends you to another company, or eventually a recruiter or hiring manager sees that internship on your resume and decides to hire you. An internship is also a great way to be hands-on with a career or a major before you actually commit to it.

Participate in extra-curricular activities. You might hear this a lot, but it’s important to get as involved as possible in college. Not just to keep yourself busy on the weekends and to make friends, but college activities are great to put on your resume. Even if you’re not getting paid or working a traditional job, being, for example, a tour guide on your college campus or a part of residential life can really show a future employer that you’re experienced and what you can contribute to the workplace.