No I have not blog faded! Yes, I am still here. No, you can not get rid of me. I spent the last week up in the Trinity Alps area of Weaverville, California. The middle of nowhere.  Yet, the town is a total Mayberry place.  The movie theater guy sells the tickets, sells the popcorn, takes the tickets, etc. One Gas station. One Grocery Store.

We stayed at the Trinity Alps Resort. This is a place where there is no:

-cell phone coverage

-Internet access

-TV

-A/C

..well you get the idea. My family loves it. I, on the other hand am a team player and go with the flow.

So, this gives me a lot of time to bond with my family and think.

What do I think about when cut off from the outside world? Web Pages…homepages, branding.

(Yes, I need to see a shrink.)

So here is my thoughts on this. If you are a job seeker in this market, you need to have your own website about yourself. Call it a website, homepage, web page or whatever. You need to have a place where people can learn about you.-You are a brand! Yes, it is true. Personal branding is where I am going with this. Say you are an accountant named ” John Hoeser”. (hey I like that name.) You apply for a job. On your resume you put a link to www.johnhoeser.com.

The future employer can go and learn more about you on your site. Also it well help you get the word out about who you are, what you do, what you know and why your the accounting guru! There are many things you can do to this page to increase your brand awareness. . Let me share some of this in list form. People like lists:

-Create an About Page. Share that you are John the Accountant. What your background is in the field. Your achievements, notable accomplishments and why your an accounting guru. (Not an Expert! That term makes my hair stand up.)

-Have a blog. Write articles about accounting and other subjects. Give your insight about the field.  Have this new content come out at least once a week.

-Comment back to people who leave comments on your page. It shows your active, social and well people like knowing someone is reading their comments.

- Have a linkedin.com badge on your site. Just another way people can learn about your background and knowledgeable  in the field. As well as who you are connected to and any recommendations you have gotten.

- Drop your new content (blog posts) on sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, Facebook, and Twitter.

-Have a RSS.

-Leave comments on other accounting sites. People like comments, right? As well as it gives you a web presence.

-Use linkedin’s Q & A section

-Network offline. Yep, there is more to life then being online. Go to meetups, tweetups, social breakfasts and such. That is where I get most of my prospects and leads!

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Posted under Tips and Tricks

So I have noticed a change in the request for interviews and speaking engagements over the past few months. I am getting a lot of requests for tips/tricks on using social networking to find a job. Now, with the economy is I totally can see why people are turning to this medium.  In the past 2 weeks  I have been interviewed for:

-How Facebook Can Help Job Seekers Find Employment

-Tweet, Tweet: How to Incorporate Twitter Into Your Job Search

Asked to on using Social Networking  & Linkedin to find a job at:

-International Association of Administrative Professionals

-NeCon East

So I thought it would be a good idea to share some tips and tricks that you can use to help find a job. I think I should do it in list form, as people like lists!

Using Twitter

-Post to your Twitter profile, I am looking for a job! So simple, I know some people do not event think to do that.

-Use Twitter Search to find a job based on keywords. Example: CSR Wanted, Denver got me this:

The key here is to play around with the search terms to narrow it down better to what you are looking for.

Also in regards to Twitter Search, use it to find people in your field of work and add them! You need to Network and build your community.

-Follow accounts like: @jobangels, @freelancejobs @manpower

-Use Twitterjobsearch.com

Using Linkedin
-Complete your profile, amazing how many people do not do that.

-Use SEO. Put in keywords your profile, play around with it to increase your visibility.  It is a good idea to find just the right words to describe what you do.  You will know you are on the right track when you see this box:

So lets say you are in website development, use keywords like HTML, MySQl, etc. These are words people may use to find someone with your skills.

The more times you come up in search, well..the better!!

-Save business cards. When your meeting people, chatting folks up, make sure to get their business cards. Then go back to your linkedin profile and add them.  Yes, simple.

-Put a picture up. This goes for both Twitter and Linkedin, it ads something when you can see what a person looks like.

-The Answers Section!! The most underused, yet powerful tool on the site! It is where the magic happens. This is where people in your field post questions they need help with. They are reaching out for “An Expert”. That expert is you! Get on it, respond, refer, engage, chat it up, etc. This is where networking happens. Questions in my area look like this:

Hope some of these tips help. What are some tools /tricks you use to find a job?

Posted under Tips & Tricks