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Workplace

How to Find the Best Paid Jobs Online


Social media is more than just playing games on Facebook or tweeting every bit and part of your mundane life. Do you know that proper use of social media can enhance your chance of getting a well paid job? In this article I will be sharing some tips that might be useful when it comes to landing the job of your dream.

   
LinkedIn

   
The first site that you will want to consider is LinkedIn. If there is a site that recruiters may use to uncover their next employee it will be this one. This is why it is important that you spend some time to create a good and accurate profile on the site. Do not forget to insert a picture of yourself on your profile-nothing fancy though.

What you need to remember is that the real power of a network is in the second degree, i.e. you should make the most of the network of your network. If there is someone within your network that is friend with someone influential you might want to ask for an introduction from a friend.
   
If you need help moving on, check out the Guerilla LinkedIn Makeover which has helped thousands of job seekers already.

     
Blogging

     
Although blog may have lost its original influence, it can still be helpful when it comes to choosing a job if you know how to use it properly. One idea will be to start a blog where you will cover the latest developments in your field and at the same time share it with your networks on LinkedIn or any other social network. This will put you under the radar of some of the influential person within your industry.

Make sure that your posts are really pertinent and do not hesitate to share your own views and ideas to show your prospective employers how knowledgeable you might be in your niche.
     
For more on blogging, check out How Blogging Will Boost Your Career and Personal Brand.

   

Twitter

      
Twitter is another important tool when it comes to finding a job. Again you will need to make sure that you have a completed bio with a link to your online resume to give a good image of yourself. Again you should make everything sound professional-no silly avatars or background please.
   
Just as with your blog you will want to make use of this site to establish yourself as an expert in your field. To achieve this you will need to ensure that your tweets are relevant and really add value for all your followers. You might also want to follow all the leaders and influential person within your niche. This is where the advanced search features of Twitter might be really useful.
   
For more on Twitter, see 10 Hot Twitter Job Search Tips.

      
Facebook

        
This article will be incomplete without mentioning Facebook. Although many people seem to be using Facebook casually, it can also have some influences on your job searching endeavors.

First of all you will want to ensure that you do not have some compromising photos lurking on your Facebook account that will hinder your chances of getting your dream jobs. It might therefore be important that you monitor your privacy settings closely to ensure that sensitive information is not available on the internet.

There are a lot of companies that post job openings on their Facebook fan page and having a professional-looking Facebook account can really make your life easier when it comes to applying for these positions.
   
More on Facebook at 10 Useful Personal Branding Tips on Facebook.

       
Final word: Be Bold

     
Sometimes it may pay off to be bold. Whatever social media site you might be using, it might be useful to post a status update that will let your followers know that you are looking for a job. There are many people that have got their dream job via social media sites and this might also be the case for you.

Robert Bellarmine is a writer for Visitask.com where he deals with the subject of project management and other hot topics for career management.

Categories
Employer Branding

How to Escape From Management Hell

Are you frustrated with your job or has your workplace become unbearable because of your overly-demanding, demeaning, controlling, intrusive, ineffective, criticizing and ultimately bad boss?

Bad bosses or managers are those that create a divide within the team, intimidate, bully, mistrust or disrespect employees and are the main culprit for job dissatisfaction and low morale.
These behaviours are defeating and demoralizing, eroding employee self-esteem, physical and psychological wellbeing, and lead us to question and doubt our self-worth, personal and professional skills and aptitudes.

However, although bad bosses can loosely fit into two categories: those who know they are bad and continue the behaviour intentionally and those who are oblivious to just how bad they are – it is not always easy to bring up into discussion how our boss’s behaviour or leadership style is affecting us, inside and outside the workplace.

But what are some leadership styles and how do employees respond to these?

 

The laissez-faire leadership

 

This is one that embraces a hands-off approach. Bosses and managers that adopt this way of working tend to fail to provide employees with any direction and underemphasise the importance of performance and progress feedback. These bosses and managers often fail to empower their employees and expect them to thrive or succeed with minimal management support or involvement.

 

Categories
Workplace

7 Ways to Accelerate Your Job Search

Considering the tough competition of the job market, jobseekers need to be smart enough to perform their job search smoothly. A slow start to your job search may increase the period of unemployment. Many times, jobseekers also get stuck with their job hunting process. While searching for jobs, it is important to save time and speed up the process of finding jobs as much as possible.
 
To expedite the process of job hunt, you need to be equipped with some essential pieces of advice. Given below are eight essential tips to help you.
 

#1. Get Prepared

If you are starting a job search, you need to set up a couple of things. Make sure you are ready with a professional email address, a telephone answering machine or voice messaging system. Always remember to put your cellular phone number in the job resume, so that you are easily contactable by the employers. There are various job search toolkits available online as well to prepare yourself for searching jobs.
 

More tips at How to Create a Professional Email for Your Career or Job Search.

 

#2. Keep Your Resume Up-to-date

Nothing can be more frustrating than not having an up-to-date resume when it comes to finding a new job. You never know when an opportunity will strike. So, you should always keep your resume current and updated. Continue including new skills and experience in your resume as soon as your acquire them.
 

More at Top 10 Signs Your Resume Needs Updating.

 

#3. Keep Templates Ready to Edit

Have multiple copies of your job resume and cover letter ready to edit. If you are ready with the templates, you can immediately tailor the same according to the job application requirements. You won’t need to change the contact information, opening and closing paragraphs for applying to different job positions. Rest of the content can be optimized according to the requirements.
 

Also check out the LinkedIn Resume Builder for a quick way to send a resume.

 

#4. Use Job Search Engines

There are plenty of useful job search engines available on the internet. There are many job search engines that are global while there are other job boards that are regional. Prepare a list of all the major job boards, company websites and associations that you want to use. Use a number of job search engines and job banks to speed up the process of searching jobs.
 

Check out the Top 5 Job Search Aggregators out there.

 

#5. Let Job Information Come to You

There are several job banks and job sites that will send you job listings by email. Find out such job search agents that can send you current job information. There are various websites that specialize in sending job opening announcement to jobseekers. This step is very useful for speeding up the process of job hunting.
 

Read more at How to Use Google Alerts for a Live Job Search.

 

#6. Time Saver Tips

If you want to speed up the process even more, you can take help from resume writing and resume editing services online. There are plenty of online resume posting services that can immediately post your job resume to multiple job boards at one. This can save you ample time.
 

And in the meantime you can watch Speedy Gonzales Cannery Woe.

 

#7. Keep Your References Ready

Another most important job search tip is to be ready with the references that you want to include in your resume or want to send to the interviewers. Make sure you have complete informational details of the references you want to send. While creating the list of references, remember to include their full name, job title, company name, phone number and email address where they can be contacted.
 

See more at References Available Upon Request.

 

#8. Leverage Your Network

Jobseekers should be advised that not all job vacancies are advertised. Most of the job openings are filled through networking. Ensure that everyone in your professional networking loop is aware that you are searching for a job. Ask your contacts if they can provide your some valuable job information. Keep expanding your professional network as well.
  

Check out 7 Brilliant Ways to Use Your Network to Get a New Job.
 
 
James Tomerson writes regularly on career, education and latest job trends. To read more from him, you can visit Jobdiagnosis.com, which also offers jobseekers a free career test to choose a career which is in tune with their career, aptitude and skills.

Categories
Timebound

What’s All This Twitter Twitter Really About?

Is Twitter a mystery to you as well? Do you pretend to ‘get it’? Well join the club! Thanks to Cheryl Lawson (@PartyAficianado) we now know what Twitter is all about and how to actually use it. Enjoy this infographic and be sure to check out 5 Ways to Boost Your Twitter Bio as well:

Categories
Workplace

4 Ways Freelancers Can Promote Themselves on Social

The freelance life is really catching on these days. From workplace-weary professionals to recent college graduates, many are excited by the prospect of setting their own schedule and working from the comfort of home.

 

In the past, the best ways for freelancers to get their names in front of potential clients were non-digital. Cold calls, query letters, and in-person networking were all ways the would-be freelancer could try and land a gig. Those methods worked, and they still can – sometimes.

 

But social media is shaking things up. Freelancers like me are now finding new business without making nerve-wracking phone calls or even leaving the house. Whether you are looking to freelance full-time or just want a few projects you can tackle on the side, the following tips will help you market yourself through social networks, build connections, and get new clients.

 

1. Make time for social networking.

 

If there’s one thing all freelancers know, it’s that they can spend just as much time marketing their services as they can practicing their craft, especially when they’re starting out. Work social networking into your regular marketing regimen. For every query letter you write, for example, you might reach out to two new contacts on Twitter. This alone can get you hundreds of contacts every year, and it takes very little effort.

 

For those worried about the time investment needed to utilize social media, consider how much time is spent attending face-to-face networking events and banking phone numbers for cold call lists. Setting a goal of just one new contact per day via Twitter or LinkedIn takes much less time and energy than either of those traditional marketing methods, and it’s a much less intrusive way to reach your audience.

 

2. Know your audience.

 

Who are you trying to reach? Answering that question should tell you who you need to target on the social networks. It’s certainly possible to start following as many people as possible on Twitter, get several to follow back, and breathe a sigh of relief at all the “social proof” provided by your new arsenal of Twitter followers.

 

But lots of connections might not a happy freelancer make. It’s important to focus your efforts on those people and industries that are likely to generate new leads for you. Following the tweets of 200 professionals in your niche is much more valuable than following just anybody.

 

Freelancers who know their audience are able to forge relevant business relationships through social media, and one high-quality contact is worth far more than a million who will never bring you any business.

 

3. Build your brand.

 

If you’re a full-time or part-time freelancer, you’re also a small business owner. While creating and maintaining a personal brand is necessary for every professional, remember that freelancers who market through social media also have a professional brand – their business – which is inseparable from their personal brand.

 

When you freelance, you are your business and your business is you.

 

Does that mean you’re not free to “be yourself” when using social media? Of course not! On the contrary, you will have the opportunity to display your business to the world with every digital interaction – no matter how “personal” that interaction is. Just be sure the message you send to friends, family, and professional contacts on the social web is one you’re not afraid to associate with your freelance efforts.

 

4. Utilize multiple channels.

 

If your results from Twitter are so-so at best, add another network to your social media repertoire. You might be the type of freelancer whose audience is less active on Twitter than LinkedIn, Facebook, or another network. What’s more, you may find your style is more suited to one network than it is to another. The only way to know which ones are best is to try several.

 

But before you decide one network isn’t best for your business, make sure you’re using it to its fullest potential. Don’t discount LinkedIn, for instance, if you haven’t asked for recommendations and haven’t mingled in several group discussions over an extended period of time. If you’re not taking advantage of what each network offers, you’re unlikely to see results.

 

Whether it’s full-time or part-time, freelancing has always held professional advantages. Doing great work on behalf of a variety of organizations allows you to connect with scores of contacts who could be helpful down the line. Social media, when properly utilized, lets us freelancers turn our networking up a notch.

Related: 7 Reasons Personal Branding is Important for Freelancers.

 

Adam Green is a freelance copywriter and

Categories
Workplace

7 Ways College Students Can Benefit from LinkedIn

Considering the excellent benefits that connecting with professionals on LinkedIn brings, college students can never ignore this social networking platform. In fact, your networking on LinkedIn should begin as early as possible. LinkedIn can help you find jobs as soon as you graduate from college.

 

However, it’s a regret that college students spend very little time on this professional social networking platform, as compared to the time spent on other popular social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

 

Given below are some key tips on how college students should use LinkedIn and how they can reap maximum benefits by connecting with professionals on this social networking website.

 

1. Getting Job Email Alerts
 

Once you have created your professional profile on LinkedIn, you can set email alerts to receive notifications of recommended jobs. Students and jobseekers will be able to see the notifications on their homepage as soon as they log into their LinkedIn accounts.

 

2. Connecting with Professionals

  

If you have a look at LinkedIn, you’ll be surprised to find out the large number of professionals who choose to connect here. In fact, you can find your friends, co-workers, colleagues, classmates and family members on this platform. And it’s never a tough job connecting with them all. What’s more, you can even import your email list to find out who among your friends is present on LinkedIn.

Related: How To Build a Brilliant Professional Network in College.

 

3. Conducting Company Research

   

One of the biggest benefits LinkedIn offers college students and jobseekers is that they can check out the pages of their targeted employers. By visiting company, pages, you can conduct a research on the whereabouts of the company, the hiring process and what people have to say about that organization. This kind of company research on LinkedIn can always keep a stay ahead of your competition and increases your employability.

 

4. Getting Recommendations

 

LinkedIn also offers a feature through which you can get other people to recommend you. People with a maximum number of recommendations have a great chance of attracting the employers’ attention. College students too can try to get as many recommendations as possible to increase their employability.

Be sure to check out How to Get More LinkedIn Recommendations as well.

 

5. Letting Companies Find You

 

Today, a large number of organizations look for talented candidates on social networking platforms like LinkedIn. If you have created a good and detailed professional profile, chances are you will attract employer’s attention. And it would really be nice to be invited by companies for your job position you always wanted to occupy.

 

6. Connecting with Other Students

 

College students can also use LinkedIn to network with other students. This type of networking gives you a wonderful opportunity to find out how other college graduates found a job or got hired by an employer.

 

7. Landing International Jobs

 

Well, LinkedIn is a global networking platform. If you are interested in landing jobs overseas, you can get a lot of benefits by networking on this social media website. You can connect with all the major international employers and find jobs in foreign countries. 

  

Conclusion

 

It’s about time that college students too created their profiles on LinkedIn and started to use this social media platform for connecting with professionals. If you prepare yourself as early as possible, you can easily stay ahead of your competition when it comes to landing a job of your interest.

To learn how some people are using LinkedIn to attract employers, get called to interview, and get hired, see the Guerilla LinkedIn Makeover!
 

James Tomerson writes regularly on career, education and latest job trends. To read more from him, you can visit Jobdiagnosis.com, which also offers jobseekers a free career test to choose a career which is in tune with their career, aptitude and skills.

Categories
Workplace

5 Skills Taught in the Armed Forces to Help You Secure a Job

Since I was really young, I have always shown a passion for the military. Whether it was watching action-packed war movies or running around with toy guns pretending to be a soldier, this was my lifestyle after school. My dad, along with much of my family heritage, also served in the armed forces. He was…

Categories
Talent Acquisition

10 Great Ways to Increase LinkedIn Productivity

As a machine is only as clever as its user, a LinkedIn account is only as productive as the person in the profile picture.  Although most users know by now that simply inputting your name and occupation into the allotted spaces won’t bring in a deluge of opportunities, many don’t know enough about the benefits to go the extra step.  It takes courage to press a button sometimes.  Here are 10 reasons to increase your account’s productivity.
  

1. Increase credibility.  

  
Forgive me, but I’ll begin with a no-brainer: the more connections you have, the more credible or at least engrossed in your career you appear.  This is good.  People like hard workers and are more likely to hire someone who’s earnest and has a strong network presence than someone who doesn’t appear to want to get to know people they already don’t know. Remember that who you know can hold the keys to who you want to know.
 

See more at How to Connect with New People on LinkedIn.
  

2. Increase visibility.  

 
The number of connections also increases (or decreases) the likelihood that people searching for someone will find you first.  Moreover, LinkedIn profiles get pretty high PageRanks on Google.  If you want to take it a step further, customize your public profile’s URL to be your brand or name.
  

More about optimizing your profile for SEO at How to Make Google Love Your LinkedIn Profile.
  

3. Be selective with your contacts.  

   
Not to contradict myself, but s/he with the most friends does not win.  Sometimes, it’s better not to connect with someone you know or don’t know on LinkedIn.  As with our physical lives, excess entities in our virtual lives can create distracting clutter.  On the other hand, it doesn’t really pay to be a snob, either.  A good start for any new LinkedIn user is to allow LinkedIn to access your email contacts.
   

Check out 3 Ways to Network on LinkedIn for further reading.
  

4. Believe in karma.  

      
LinkedIn, while perhaps not as flashy as Facebook or Twitter, is a network like any other: karma exists here.  Someone pats your back, pat them back by promoting them, linking to them, connecting with them, and the like.  You can begin with good karma by teaching someone the benefits of LinkedIn and showing them the ropes.  You can even look up an individual and get an idea for what they need to perform better.  You never know when someone from the past will drop a gold mine on your lap.   

5. Break the ice.  

      
Go into a job interview more confidently by looking up your potential employer’s LinkedIn profile.  Maybe you two both worked at a Starbucks once upon a time.  Maybe you went to the same high school.  You get the picture.

  
See more at How to Prepare for Your Job Interview.
 

6. Evaluate your evaluator.  

   
This is your chance to decide whether or not you want to work for said potential employer.  You can even look up individuals who have previously held the position for which you’re being interviewed and see what they have to say about the job and its future.  Uncheck the “current titles only” box when doing so. 

  
More on this at How Professional is Your Recruiter? LinkedIn Will Tell You!.
 

7. Effortlessly make announcements.  

  
When your business has overcome a hurdle, launched a new venture, or undergone some manner of change, update your LinkedIn profile to notify your contacts.  This is more seamless and casual than email notifications, which can seem spammy.

  
Further reading at 10 Tips to Using Your LinkedIn Status Update.
  

8. Know your competition.  

  
Sneak around the network to get an idea for what the competition is up to, who they’re targeting, and what you can do to one-up them.  Less maliciously, you can gauge the status of an industry in which you’re thinking about investing by checking in with succeeding companies from time to time.  On the other hand, you can check in with companies who have failed.  They can offer you just as much wisdom as those who’ve succeeded.  
 

See more at How to Conduct Employer Research on LinkedIn.
 

9. Narrow your search.  

      
Searching through LinkedIn can help open-source vendors understand who’s already worked with their software and how.  As an employer, you can hire someone whom you already know is familiar with your code.  You also get to find out what people find practical about your product and what you can improve about it.
  

See 3 Great Ways to Finding People to Connect with on LinkedIn for more.
 

10. Ask and you shall receive.  

  
Not only can you request advice from experts by using LinkedIn’s Answers feature rather than a mere open forum, you can look forward to becoming (and becoming known as) an expert, yourself.  This adds to your credibility.  As an inquirer and not an expert, you might make a new contact or two, or even a job.  If someone is answering your question, obviously you two have something—at least an occupational interest—in common.  You might be able to fix each other’s problems; you never know who you’ll stumble across in such a vast network.

LinkedIn has been touted for years as not only a useful tool but also a satisfying experience. It turns your résumé into a living, breathing entity that has, like you, undergone evolution for potential employers and employees across the globe to see.  Perhaps least observed is its use in giving ourselves perspective about where we excel, where could use improvement, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.
  
To learn how some people are using LinkedIn to attract employers, get called to interview, and get hired, see the Guerilla LinkedIn Makeover!
 

Alexis Bonari is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching medical school loans as well as calculates student loan costs. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping.

Categories
Talent Acquisition Workplace

4 LinkedIn Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make


LinkedIn has quickly become one of the largest and most accessible professional social networks out there, and because of this, it’s imperative that everyone who wishes to maximize their career potential join LinkedIn, set up a profile, and begin networking.
 
Of course, as with many other social networks, there are unwritten rules of etiquette that you must first figure out and then abide as you embark on your LinkedIn journey. Unfortunately, figuring out these rules and not making mistakes or breaking these rules is rather hard for those new to LinkedIn or even social networks in general.
 
Below I’ve tried to list a handful of mistakes that many LinkedIn users make, and I’ve tried to incorporate solutions into each section. Please, if you know LinkedIn well, feel free to add to the information here in the comments section. And, as always, happy job hunting!
 
The following are mistakes many LinkedIn users make and how you can avoid them:
 

1. Failing to Understand Social Networking Contexts

 
The biggest thing many LinkedIn users fail to understand is that LinkedIn is simply one of many social networks out there. No matter how professional you try to make your LinkedIn profile, the fact that a crazy Facebook profile or irreverent Twitter account under your name exists could significantly hurt your career chances. Do not ignore the other social networks you’ve joined, because recruiters, hiring managers, and others within the industry are looking at these other sites too!
 
Solution: Google yourself constantly. Manage your entire online presence. Edit your Tweets, check your photos on Facebook, untag yourself from unpleasant photos and conversations, and watch what you post on whatever forums you’ve joined. Always assume that your LinkedIn account is merely a portal that a potential employer can enter in order to access your entire online persona.
 
See more at 10 Ways to Sweep Your Digital Dirt Under the Carpet.
 

2. Lacking A Good Profile Photo

 
This is relatively simple. I’ve seen so many people fail to upload a good profile photo. I can understand why people would wish to not upload a photo; however, lacking a photo can seriously hurt your chances of getting clicked. Think about a recruiter. He or she is browsing entries; is he or she more likely to click on a photo or a tiny bit of text in the search results page? An updated photo of yourself will assure the recruiter that you are, indeed, human after all, with all your quirks and faults.
 
Solution: It’s much easier for someone browsing search results to connect with a human face than a bit of text, so upload a photo as soon as possible!
 
Further reading at How to Choose a Picture for Your Personal Brand.
 

3. Filling Out a Vague Headline

 
How many LinkedIn accounts have you seen with a bland headline beneath the profile? How many ‘Project Managers’ and ‘Sales Executives’ do you see in that headline? Boring, right? This is a big mistake because users see that the majority of LinkedIn accounts simply list a position title in this field, so they put in their own position because they think that’s what it’s for. Well, the more successful profile headlines are those that say something like “I offer my clients a quick and efficient means of incorporating various security systems into their databases.” It doesn’t have to be complicated. Instead, this statement actively states what you do while also giving your voice a chance to shine. Compare that to “Database Security Specialist” and you can see what I mean.
 
Solution: Market yourself in one sentence. This one sentence should be active, include the word ‘I,’ and concisely state what you can do for a client or employer.
 
Check out 10 LinkedIn Headline Examples from Recruiters.
   

4. Not Creating a Personal Narrative

 
Finally, you’ll see many LinkedIn users stick with the traditional format as suggested by LinkedIn. They basically enter their resume into the form and publish it. Well, how many resumes have you read that you think are incredibly interesting? I’m going to guess you’ve read no interesting resumes, ever. We’re human; we love to hear a story. So why not give others what they want to here: your professional story. Yes, of course, you can still enter your resume; however, you want to be careful in how much you pull from your resume, especially the language of the resume.
 
Solution: You don’t need to use resume-speak; instead, use longer sentences and active verbs that describe your story. Use the section in your profile that allows you to write a summary to tell your story, the story that isn’t on your resume. That way users can see both aspects of your career resume and aspects of your slightly more personalized professional story.

Related: 7 Pictures You Should Never Use on Your LinkedIn Profile.
   
 
This guest contribution was submitted by Pamelia Brown, who specializes in writing about associates degree. She enjoys films by Sergei Eisenstein and drinking Carling lager.