Employment Symposium

Stream of Consciousness

Introduction

The U.S. economy is in disarray. Some members of our group have been unemployed for 6-9 months. Unlike many people of our society who abuse the unemployment system, these individuals are vice presidents, marketing managers, human resource managers, lawyers, accountants, etc. who have immense secondary education, belong to other professional and civic organizations, and were excelling in their previous positions. They are now hitting the pavement daily and trying to utilize their networks and resources to create employment opportunities. Earlier this month, I wrote an article titled "Using Social Networking to Find A Job" in order to assist these individuals in increasing their hiring advantage in their current job opportunities, but unfortunately, this is not enough. Thus, at our last "Morning Cup of Java", we discussed organizing an Employment Symposium that will interactively provide these job seekers the tools that they need to distinguish their resumes and interviewing style from the other hundreds of applicants and allow employers to see the best talent the Bay Area has to offer.

What is needed?

1. Sponsors – Although we do not think that this event will be very expensive to execute, we will need seed money in case we need to rent a space and provide food for the participants.

2. Location – We need to secure a venue that holds at least 100 people. Some facilities will allow us to use their space if we guarantee a minimum beverage purchase for example. Some members of the group may have adequate conference room space or an auditorium or have a connection that does. Please let me know if you can assist with obtaining a free location.

3. Employers – We need companies and organizations that are hiring to contact me so that that we can facilitate introductions and possible interviews at the event.

4. Panelists – I have a few recruiters from Fortune 500 Companies and that are interested in being panelists. I could use some ideas with the format and what would be most helpful to employers and potential employees. Ideally, we will cover resume writing, proper dress attire, and other tools that employers are doing to decrease the applicant pool.

5. Marketing – Publicizing the event using your social networks, professional organizations, and circles.

How you can get involved?

Add a comment to the group's discussion or email kevin@klnpublishing.com with "Employment Symposium" in the subject line and let me know which area you would like to assist with. Items #1 and #2 need to be secured before we are able to proceed. Thanks and good luck.

Using social networking to find a job

By Kevin L. Nichols

Often times, when people hear the term “social networking” or the names of such Web sites like MySpace, Facebook or Twitter, various stereotypes and propaganda begin to regurgitate in their minds of all the horror stories that they have heard or read about in the news, from the media, from family/friends and other places.

In some circles, these sites have been equated to the devil reincarnated. However, in others, they are quintessential and indispensable tools used to weather our present global economic crisis.

Imagine that the nation’s unemployment rate is nearly the highest that it has ever been, California’s is even worst and that thousands of resumes are being sent to numerous employers for a handful of positions available. Keep in mind that in this pool of applicants, many of them have been laid off for several months and some with executive-level experience are looking to just put food on their tables. How does one distinguish him/herself from these applicants, especially given the fact that they most likely have the equivalent level or greater experience than he/she does? At least for now, gone are the days where what you knew got you where you needed to go. Now, it’s who you know that opens doors — thus, social networking comes into play.

I define social networking merely as facilitating the opportunity to connect with others on a multitude of levels, including intellectual, political, spiritual, social, environmental or economic levels. Meeting people and obtaining their contact information is only the first step in building a rapport with your contacts that may eventually lead to a business opportunity or job. Utilizing social networking sites can greatly increase your ability to get to know your contacts in various arenas without having to actually physically work beside them or even work directly with them at all.

Although there are different demographics that I use different sites for — MySpace for public relations development, Facebook for friends and family — for the purposes of this article, I will limit the discussion to LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com, which I encourage everyone to join. I have been using LinkedIn since at least 2006 and with it have had the most success at generating business leads and networking for career opportunities.

Essentially, LinkedIn shows that there really is about six degrees of separation from you and everyone else in the world. Millions of people add “connections” or contacts/colleagues from either school, current/previous employments or people who they have met in some other professional capacity. Members post an online resume of what school(s) they attended, where they work(ed) and what they do/did. People with whom you have worked or done business also can recommend you on your work for others to see. This is very useful if you have had the pleasure of working with/for extraordinary individuals with a lot of contacts and a great reputation. The most unique and advantageous part of this site is its ability to see other people’s connections that are either two or three degrees away from you. Here is how this works in the context of trying to find a job:

Five steps in using social networking to find a job

1. Create a LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com and add your contacts to your network.

2. Request recommendations from people you have worked for/with that you are certain will speak highly of you.

3. Find a job opening — visit www.indeed.com (which pulls from most of the job posting Web sites), www.craigslist.org or any other job posting website.

4. Once you have identified the appropriate opportunity for which you are qualified, type the company’s name in the “Search” field in LinkedIn to see who you know that either currently works or previously worked at that company to create an inroad or facilitate an introduction for you to the hiring manager for that position.

5. Request an introduction. Say that your friend Tim knows Jay, the communications director at XYZ, and you are applying for the communications manager opening at XYZ that reports to the director. Ask Tim to introduce you to Jay, and in your introduction, ask Jay if he is available to meet over coffee one day.

There is no foolproof way to get a job these days, but using your network to build relationships with people who you would not normally get the opportunity to meet is pretty exciting. These opportunities are increasing exponentially and it takes someone with enough drive, initiative and sometimes creativity to make the right connection that can one day change your life. Do not let what you have heard about social networking derail you from the possibility to make your professional aspirations become reality.

Kevin L. Nichols is an author and the president/CEO of KLN Publishing, located in San Francisco. For more information, visit http://klnpublishingllc.blogspot.com.

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