Imagine this:
Yikes! You just lost your job! You’ve been so busy at *work* that you don’t feel your network is as strong as you would like it to be! What are you going to do with (and to) your network in the next 6 weeks as you begin an aggressive job search campaign? And, outside of your network, what job search tactics will you employ? Or your best networking tips related to job searches.
That’s the question posted by Jason Alba as part of a “blog carnival.” He will eventually link to all the people who have posted on the topic. Here’s what I would do:
Pursue a passion:
I would decide what I’m passionate about, what I really love to do, then I would pursue it.Â
Read:
I would read a careful selection of books, blogs, and magazines to learn everything I can about the job I’m pursuing. I would learn who the key players are in the industry. What is their history, their niche, and their focus. I would find a need then prepare myself to fill it.
Write:
I would carefully document my job pursuit in a blog. What are the lessons I’ve learned? Who are the people I’ve met? What is the industry need that I can fill? I would link-out a lot and be fairly transparent in my writing, but when something is sensitive, I would write it in my private journal. My blog will be a valuable networking tool at the same time it builds credibility.
Go Get The Job:
After updating my resume, I would use what I’ve learned and who I’ve met to go out and find the job I want.
My perspective might be kind of unique in that I don’t mind if I’m unemployed for a few months. I’m single, and can live on very little. It wouldn’t be hard for me to squeak by until I find the job I really want. The important thing is that I put myself on the road I want to be on. I hope I never have to take a job just to have a job.
Yo, great post. I will include it in the carnival on the 6th… and it will definitely stand out as something unique from the other posts (as far as I’ve seen).
[...] This was posted at 7:25am MST. Scroll down and see if there are any updates, which I’ll have in red, bold, as they come in. Also, leave comments on your favorites, thoughts, etc.! Phil Windley is a professor at BYU, was the CTO of Utah, author of a geek book and writes for a ZDNet blog as well as InfoWorld. I was flattered hat he digressed from his normal topic to address this question … read Phil’s entry here. Justin Driscoll is the author of 7 Things I wish I Knew Before I Graduated (I can’t wait to get his and review it). Is very in touch with the university crowd and does regular presentations as a part of his normal day job … read Justin’s entry here. Carl Chapman is The Executive Restaurant Recruiter, and a great blogger. His story hit home with me and has some great lessons … read Carl’s entry here. Liz Handlin is VP of a professional services firm and owns Ultimate Resumes - she is very qualified in this area and has some great advice … read Liz’s entry here. Joe Neitham is a Sr. IT Recruiter in Singapore. Very interesting, has a cool blog with neat content … read Joe’s entry here. Benton Crane is a .. at FamlyLearn, a company that seems to have a way cool culture. His perspective is quite different than most of the others on this page … read Benton’s entry here. John Reinke has a very interesting blog read on all kinds of stuff and has a number of posts on the “problems” (big grin) of JibberJobber. These posts really get us hopping over here. Anyway, his response is as critical as usual and very good … read John’s entry here. Scot Herrick is one of my favorite reads because he has a job, and blogs on what its like Actually, he touches on lots of different things (last week he was on a “buy your own domain” kick, which is a big part of personal branding) … read Scot’s entry here. George Blomgren is a good on-line buddy and an expert in his one rite. George is a marketing manager for a national system of job board and has developed two different blogs for job seekers and employers… read George’s entry here.jjCarolynn Duncan gained some blog fame a few months back when she started a blog about why “[her target company] should hire Carolynn Duncan”… and you saw reference to this all over the Internet. It worked, and I eventually was able to meet with her - very clever, methodical, etc. Right now she is the COO of 42CO, who is presenting their new blogging software in two days in Silicon Valley - by invite. Congrats Carolynn and team! … read Carolynn’s entry here. Barbara Safani is a well respected executive coach and resume expert who knows a lot about employment issues… she is very well known in her circle, you’ll have to read more about her (just click her name) … read Barbara’s entry here. Scott Ingram makes me jealous - he owns a great domain name (NetworkingAustin.com), lives in one of the coolest cities in one of the coolest states, and has a blog that doesn’t allow me to comment on and impart my wisdom I’ve gotten to know Scott a little and have found him to be as nice as he is cool. As a regular speaker on networking and facilitator of business networking events in Austin, I was pleased to hear he would be contributing … read Scott’s entry here. Dan Johnson is no ordinary job seeker - he started his own blog with some friends and blogs on job search things. This is a great exercise as it forces you to think about the process, and I’ve found his writings to be valuable … read his entry here. Share This PostThese icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
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