5 Tips on Turning Your Online Network Into Your Real Life Network

Posted on December 9, 2011 by meghan_ntroduction

It seems you can’t go anywhere online without reading about the importance of your online network. And while that is important, especially when trying to establish a network to build a career, change careers or even to find a job, it’s just as important to maintain your real life network.

A lot can be said for a strong and extensive online network. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and many other sites throughout the web give us incredible opportunities to connect and network with people across the globe. But many of these sites offer you the chance to connect with people local to you as well.

Take some time to explore ways to connect your online network to your real life network and you could open up a whole new set of opportunities.

Twitter Lists: A few months back Twitter introduced a great new feature that allows you to create a list of Twitter users based on whatever category you’d like. A great way to localize your twitter stream is to use the Twitter search function to search your town or surrounding area. Add the people you find to a list you create and start interacting and Networking with people in your area.
Attend a Tweetup: Tweetups are meetups put together so that people who interact online via twitter can meet in person. These are usually great ways to network and to bring your online network offline and into your real life. Once you’ve started following folks in your area start asking around to see is anyone is putting something together.
Organize a Tweetup: If no one in your area is taking the initiative to schedule a local tweetup, do it yourself! If you have connected with people locally g for it and start planting the seed. Here are some great tips for organizing a great Tweetup.
Facebook Fan Pages: Many cities are creating fan pages for the city itself or institutions within the city. The local library, community center, Parks & recreation District and chamber of commerce in your area all may have active fan pages. Become a fan so that you not only connect with other locals who are fans but to stay abreast of any networking events or job fairs in your hometown. This is truly becoming a great way to stay connected locally and build a network of people nearby.
The Local Paper: You don’t have to have the paperboy deliver the hard copy to your door anymore to take advantage of all that a local paper has to offer. If you have a local paper, chances are they are online and you can subscribe via email, usually for free. Many groups and local clubs still religiously list their events with the local paper. This is another great way to network locally.

Hopefully these tips will just be the tip of the iceberg for you when it comes to making your online network grow and become a part of your local network. You never know what new job and career opportunities may await at your next local Tweetup.

One more reminder: When you do attend local events to meet up with online friends always remember your business card! Have a number, email, website address and of course your Twitter handle on a card ready to hand out at all times.

Good luck!

Social Networking and What it Can do For You

Posted on November 21, 2011 by meghan_ntroduction

There are dozens of social networks out there and all of them have something to offer you. Though each and every one of these social networking can vary to some extreme degrees there is one thing they all have in common. They are all there to help you build a network. Networks not only help rebuild old friendships but nurture new ones. And that goes for connections related to your line of work as well.

One of the greatest parts of having a large social network is how strong and how much it can help you when you least expect it. One of the most important things to remember about building a social network is that it doesn’t grow over night. So it’s important to work at it everyday. You never know when someone in your network is going to come across a job or an opportunity tailor made just for you. And you never know when you may suddenly find yourself out of work and needing to tap into your network to find another job.

Here are four social network sites that you should be actively building a network on.

LinkedIn – This has become one of the go-to sites for professional networking. If you want to stay in synch with folks in your industry or the industry you’d like to break into. With the opportunity to get recommendations from colleagues you find that the stronger your network is the more of an edge you’ll have when performing a job search on LinkedIn. The Q&A section and groups give you other opportunities to network with other people in your field of interest as well.
Facebook – No surprise here. Facebook gives you a much more conversational and casual atmosphere than LinkedIn. It also gives you a broader opportunity to connect with both online friends as well as real life friends. I’ve seen people do everything from sell furniture, get animals to finding work by posting things on Facebook. As people get to know each other on Facebook they create more and more opportunities to open doors for one another when new opportunity arises.
Twitter – Many people consider themselves either Facebook people or Twitter people. But in reality they compliment each other quite well. Twitter is probably the best place to meet new people. And with the ever growing search functions and hash tag system you are really able to comb the world for news and opportunities relating to just about anything. The conversations move fast but the networks built can be tight and help you just when you need them the most.
Ning – Ning networks are do-it-yourself social networks that anyone can create for any topic they have an interest in. GovLoop & Twittermoms are two of the most heavily populated sites that have connected people in thousands of ways. From GovLoop has sprouted job opportunities, conferences, connections, and a much smaller world for Government employees across the country. Sites like “jobs in Social Media” among hundred of others provide numerous opportunities to connect with anyone in any industry.

4 Things You’re Not Doing to Find a Job

Posted on May 24, 2011 by meghan_ntroduction

These days looking for work can require a certain amount of creativity. Not only are the jobs harder to find but also the market is saturated with other people competing for what jobs there are. On top of the fact that with today’s ever evolving use of social networking and technology new jobs are being created every day as well as new ways to find people to do them.

This is why you should always have a job search plan that goes beyond the old job board and newspaper ads. If your reading this blog, it should be safe to assume that you’ve already taken the initial steps in setting up an online presence. You’re on Facebook; maybe Twitter and you have a profile on LinkedIn. If not, you should head over there and do those things now.

I think it’s also safe to assume since you’re here hanging out on Ntroduction.com you’re familiar with the networking services we provide here. And again, if you’re not go check it and come back. Its ok, I’ll wait.

Since you have the basics down here a list of how you can use social networking to put you ahead of the game when it comes to competing for the job.

Facebook- if you suddenly find yourself in need of work one of the first things you should do is put the word out to families and friends on Facebook. You never know who know someone who’s retiring or an opening that will be coming up soon. People won’t no to give you a heads up if they don’t know you’re looking. But take it to the next level, become a fan of companies who are in your field and that you’d like to work with. Be active on their page. Also think about paying for an ad. A few folks have had success with purchasing ads for themselves and targeting the ads for people and companies in the area their looking for work.
Focus on LinkedIn- One of the cool things about you using the job search function on LinkedIn is that you can sort it by “relationship.” So that jobs you already have a connection with show up on top. This is one of the most important reasons to keep your LinkedIn network growing. Join groups that fit your interests and your field. Also, every time you meet someone new in real life or online find him or her on LinkedIn.
Brand yourself – Get a blog and create a YouTube account. A blog is a great way to enhance your online network and allow people to get the chance to know you better. You can set something up on WordPress.com for free with little effort. There you can also create a page for your resume and to list references. On your YouTube account (which you should link to your blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter accounts). Leave regular videos explaining what you have to offer or even examples of what you do and why you’re the best. Make a video resume. Stand out.
Look somewhere else – If you’re not having any luck finding work in your chosen field, think about choosing another field. Sometimes when you find yourself looking for work and closing one chapter of your life, it’s fate’s way of telling to start a whole new book.

As always, good luck!

Tips on Finding Job Leads at Your Fingertips

Posted on March 23, 2010 by meghan_ntroduction

So you’re making the most of your social network, sending out resumes, going to job fairs, and cold calling businesses. But some day’s it feels like the well of leads is dried up in the never-ending search for work. Well we came up with a list of ways for you to look for job leads, that you might not have realized.

Twitter

Ok so we all know how great Twitter is for networking and meeting people and connecting with likeminded folks in your chosen profession. But there s another set of reasons why twitter is a great job search tool, the apps! Twitter

Has got a number of apps that can help you fins a job based on a number of key factors.

TwitterJobCast–You can use this local job search to find companies that are hiring via Twitter. You can browse for jobs by city, state or zip code.
TwitterJobSearch – This is a search engine that searches for jobs posted on Twitter. A lot of tech jobs, but by using the search function you can look for jobs in your field and in the city of your choice.
TweetMyJobs – TweetMyJobs uses Twitter Channels to connect recruiters, hiring managers and job seekers together on Twitter. There are channels for most major cities and industries. All you have to do it create an account on Twitter and TweetMyJobs, subscribe to the Job Channels you want then have any new openings automatically sent to your cell phone as a text message.

Your Phone

That’s right, your phone. Your iPhone can be more than just a way to kill time; you can actually use it as a convenient job search tool. Here are just three of the many apps created for the iPhone to help you with the job hunt.

Job Compass – Job compass use iPhone’s location to help you search for jobs by radius. You can look as close to your home or as far as you’d like. This app is free.
Now Hiring - This app allows you to search for jobs by every way possible. Miles, date, relevance, full/part-time, contract, internship or temporary plus search by city, state, province, zip code, or postcode. This is app is constantly updated so it’s always got the hottest leads. A mere 99 cents is all this costs.
Job Finder - Job finder rocks because it saves you through the time and trouble of searching the many job sites out sites because it aggregates jobs from those top sites.

Craigslist & LinkedIn

Craigslist is probably the best sources for localized jobs right now. The beauty is you can search by field, location, and temporary or part-time, telecommute, etc. OR uses any key words that might help you narrow down your search. Plus you can incorporate your Craigslist job search with both twitter and your iPhone. You can find your local area craigslist site on twitter and follow the jobs section pus download the Craigslist app for the iPhone so that you can search the jobs and be the first in your neighborhood to see the latest listings.
LinkedIn has one feature that sets it apart from other job boards which is the ability to sort job listing by relationship. As in putting companies that are hiring that have employees in your network jump to the top of the list. You can also connect with LinkedIn on twitter and via the iPhone app, so that once again you stay up to date with the latest job leads.

So the next time your waiting in line at the store or for your car to get an oil change you can turn that wasted time into job search time!