I've decided to take a year off and apply to graduate school in the Fall of 2012. My lack of HCI/ UX Design experience. My lack of research experience in the field. All the information recruiters and professionals need to ignore me or just say no. I have contacted several professors in my area about potential research assistant/volunteer opportunities, only to get rejected and I do not know why. I was estimable in my emails. No harsh words. No rudeness. But I was persistent with my responses. Since when has persistence become the new n-word? Take persistence and your drive to succeed out of the equation and what would you have left? Absolutely nothing. All I hear right now is dead silence on the other end of the line.
Also, I think social media is not a good outlet for job hunting. Social networking is good for "finding" pages and pages of job listings, but it limits the way people go about looking for work. Yes, I can tweet or use InMail to track down a employer about a career opportunity or job inquiry, but will that person contact me back?
Ok, I am having a hard time finding a research position. What is the closest thing I can do to get my top schools to look at me as a future M.S. candidate? I'll take an user experience internship for 500 points Alex Trebek. So I paid $30.00 (as an experiment) for the LinkedIn Job Expert account. I read that with this account, unemployed job seekers are placed at the top of the online applicant pool and job search results. So far, fewer people have checked my LinkedIn profile than before the upgrade. My summary and marketing pinch are sweet and concise to the point. I participate in several LinkedIn groups. I even posted this blog's url link and published work. If I could get my money back, I would. What are you recruiters waiting for?! Are you anxiously waiting for the perfect candidate to appear at your online doorstep?
Next stop: online job postings. BIG mistake. No one likes my applications. No one reads my applications. No one wants to interview me. I am just an inexperienced pawn in a recruiter's game of chess. Yet recruiters do not know that I am ten steps (pun attended) ahead of them. Is hope all lost? Not quite. I promise to attend more networking events this summer. Last week, I attended my first job fair; the 2011 Essex County College Job Fair Expo in Newark, NJ. I met future employers and landed some job training and job leads. I plan to attend another job fair next week. Drawbacks? I do not know the names of the employers and companies that will participate beforehand. It must be a Newark thing. Benefits? I pushed my boundaries and got my name and brand out there.
So I am not getting a job anytime soon. How can I or anyone in my situation improve his/her skills? UX Designers are in high demand. So during this summer, I plan to self-teach myself Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator so that by the fall, I am more marketable. I am going to continue reading about HCI and possible look into vlogging and open-source projects to keep me busy and awesome. If I can walk a three mile race for breast cancer without any prior experience, I can do anything ....as long as I am not stopping myself short.
And so my life after Smith College continues... what are your summer plans?
How did you like the commercial?
Hey everyone. I miss the sound of the keyboard as I stroke the keys to create another amazing blog post. All last week I was busy with my volunteer work and I did not have the time or energy to write more blog posts. I promise that this week I will write up to three blog posts. I have everything planned out there ahead of schedule. I should have written a blog post last week stating that I was on another mini break, but it is too late.
Anyhow, I have some rather bad news. On June 16th, I found this amazing job opportunity, the You Tube Culture and Trends Editor position on Linkedin.com. I was so excited because I love new media and was in the process of completing the online job application. Last night and I will never forget this. I was talking to my mom in the dining room about the job position and she was like "Honey, I hope you get it done. You never know whether or not the job won't be there anymore." I confidently stated that Google/You Tube usually have their jobs posted within a one-month time frame minimum and that I had plenty of time to apply. Turns out, this morning as I was searching Linkedin.com and Google Jobs, I learned that Google/You Tube were no longer accepting job applications...... I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head from that moment on.
So here is my dilemma. I can walk away from the accident or use this opportunity to get things done. I scheduled a Wednesday phone interview with a friend of mine at the Smith College Career Development Office to review my resume and cover letter, but I might instead have him look at my resume, so it can be ready to go when the next job opportunity comes. I will try my very best to connect with a YouTube recruiter on Linkedin so that he or she could look over my job application. I am not backing away from this opportunity. I know what it feels to be unheard and I will not allow this one position slip away from me. God, I sound like someone who is eager to confess her love to her love interest. Hollywood, do not take my idea please! When you are passionate about something, you don't let a good opportunity pass you by. Otherwise, there is nothing in life worth fighting for.
I would like you to answer these questions because I need some guidance!
Were you in a similar situation beforehand? How did you handle this situation? Were there any consequences?
It's been a year since I have started working on my online personal brand, including my blog. I've talked about my New Year's resolutions. I've talked about my job hunting. I've talked about my favorite Grammy moments. Currently, I am a volunteer worker, yet my mission is not complete. Where do I go from here?
My latest rejections were the last straw. Enough is enough. I did not know how I would overcome the disappointment until I talked with professional bloggers at my last #blogchat session last night. Yesterday, I proposed to Mack Collier on Twitter, the moderator of #blogchat, that we discuss how people should leverage their blogs to land jobs and new clients. He went with the idea. What have I learn about my LinkedIn profile from others? Two words: outdated and unremarkable. I am innovative and remarkable with a strong passion for new media. The employers that check out my LinkedIn profile periodically do not know that because I have not clearly showed them that I am.
My blog is not a blog anymore. It is a business and it needs to be treated like a business. Work still needs to be done. I have seen little results. Time to act now. I will revamp my online presence by:
- Changing my LinkedIn summary to make it more professional and tell potential employers what I can do for them, instead of listing my skills like a resume.
- Changing my LinkedIn photo to a picture of me in a business suit. My current picture shows me in my cap and gown. I am no longer a recent college graduate. I have passed that title to the new graduating Class of 2010.
- Leaving out profanity and sexual language out of my blog. (Although I rarely used it.)
- Including a brief description in my "About Me" section of blog that I am looking for work.
- Checking out my local library for more marketing tutorials. Great resource that I have outlooked since my return.
What are you doing to improve or update your online presence? What do you think about personal branding in general?
