Career Blogging from Brazen Careerist

Ryan Healy, co-founder of Brazen Careerist, a blogging network for young professionals, has released a new free eBook entitled, "Career Blogging." On all of the Florida JobSpots, I have stated the importance of personal branding and establishing yourself as an industry player. Google is quickly becoming the new resume destination and reputations online are the new first impressions that were found at job fairs or walking into places of employment.

With the need to stand out among your peers and competition now more than ever, Ryan Healy has released this eBook at an optimal time to re-energize your job profile.

It is an easy read, coming it at 27 pages and it printer friendly as well. Ryan covers topics such as

• Old vs. New in job hunting trends
• Why blogging is an effective career tool
• How students can become effective bloggers to position themselves for greatness after graduation
• Real life examples of people that have had success from their blog

Download it here!

So stop thinking about it and take some action! 2009 will be a very interesting year indeed, but the power you take into your own life will have many reflections on how it pans out for you!

Happy hunting Tampa!

-Greg Rollett

5 Job Blogs to Read in '09

If you are looking for a little bit of motivation and straight talk to get you going in 2009, here is a list of 5 great sites to get some solid career advice from. They are a part of my daily reads and I learn from them every time the keyboard hits the screen. Enjoy.

1. Brazen Careerist - This site is geared towards Gen-Y and the younger worker and has over 100 of the top young bloggers telling it like it is. Love them or hate them, Gen-Y is coming strong into the workforce over the next few years and Brazen Careerist is a great place to learn from the mouth itself.
2. Wiser Worker Blog - WiserWorker.com, a job site for older and mature workers has a fantastic resource for job seekers that are making a transition in careers or are looking to get back into the labor pool after retirement. It is written by Amy Hoster and is updated a few times a week with great content.
3. Lindsey Pollak Career Advice Blog - A JobSpot favorite and consistent advice giver. Look for Lindsey on Podcasts, her own writing and new syndication with ABC News on Campus.
4. Personal Branding Blog - While not a job specific blog, Dan Schawbel does an excellent job in helping you understand hwo your personal brand will ultimately help your career. As an added bonus, Dan interviews top CEO's and business leaders to gain their perspective on their job, career and branding outlook.
5. ERE.net - This is a great series of blogs that works from the recruiter end. If you ever wanted to get into the head of a top recruiter to see what they are looking for, trends in the industry and how you can get a step ahead, this is a great resource for you.

Those are my top 5. What do you have that you can bring to the table?

Have a great holiday.

What do High School Seniors and Job Seekers Have in Common?

photo by Jonathan Pobre

The answer may be surprising. Or it may not. Social Networking is at an all time high and leading the pack are high school students are teenagers across the country. Popular sites like Myspace and Facebook allow anyone on their networks to post text, videos and photos to their pages, walls and on their friends pages. This has resulted in some less than spectacular backlash for these students when looking into colleges.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, 10% of college admissions reps are looking at social networking profiles when making an enrollment decision. Of those colleges making use of the online information, 38% said that what they saw "negatively affected" their views of the applicant.

Job seekers have recently been in the same boat. Local media have named the trend "digital dirt," however I think it goes beyond the bad.

Everyone is quick to point fingers and join the blame game when incriminating evidence is found online. The fact of the matter is that for something to make it online, it had to be put there by a person. If you are controlling what is put online, you have nothing to worry about.

The great thing is that there are many things that you can begin to do today to create a positive personal brand today to make it easier to get a job tomorrow.

• Smart Social Networking - Use these networks to meet people at organizations that you cannot contact normally. Cultivate relationships with these people through asking questions, complimenting their work and engaging in their conversations.
• Blogging - Become a thought leader for a niche that you specialize in. If you are a painter, load up photos and tell stories of some great houses, layout or fences that you have worked on. Upload how-to videos or tips to more effective painting.
• Media in your resume - Robert Scoble recently noted that out of 200 applicants for a job with a tech company that only one had a link to their site included within their resume. If you need to get a point across, link to it!

Whether you are a student or a job seeker, companies and universities are looking you up. What are they going to find? The answer is what you put there.

-Greg Rollett

Health Care vs. Social Media

photo by rosefirerising

Since the launch of HealthCareerWeb a few months back, I have been digging and searching to find the gap that exists between Social Media and health care recruiting. In my quest I ran across Phil Bauman, a Social Media advocate who is also a Registered Nurse. This is 1 piece of a 3-part discussion we had about Social Media and the Healthcare industry. The other 2 parts can be found at the Orlando JobSpot and the Employment Guide Spot Blog.

In this session we are looking at ways that the Health Care industry has embraced open communication via Social Media and some hindrances that are stopping Health Care HR professionals from using these tools.

Being a registered nurse, Phil Bauman has the opportunity to offer hands on information as to what is available to him on his job. (Disclaimer: Phil works at just one health care company and may not necessarily have the access to tools that others do.) We are looking at on the job tools and not personal profiles on Social Networking sites. His thoughts on the technology available on the job as well as tips that can be implemented on the job are as follows;

• Most online tools that I have seen seem to be based on the employment and recruiting models of the 20th century. I think we need to move away from the resume-interview-cog model to a personal/professional branding model. A well-crafted and interesting blog can improve a person's awareness of their own skills and provide a deeper understanding of a candidate's background.
• Likewise, a hospital blog that allows its employees to blog is a great way to show prospective candidates "Hey, this hospital is WAY ahead of the game. I should check them out."
• Word of mouth is the marketing (and recruiting) of the future. It always was the best way to go, but in light of the Long Tail advanced by online social media, it's important that facilities intelligently investigate, invest and maintain the right kinds of social media. Again, a LinkedIn version for healthcare could make sense.
• Hospitals could even use social media for their staffing, their staff scheduling and job promotion.

I can attest to the recruiting end that Social Media is starting to make an impact on the way professionals are brought into organizations. With the rise in job boards and the ease of use in mass applying, HR professionals need to find ways to better position themselves apart from their competitors as well as passive job seekers. Using Social Media as a tool to filter through candidates, proactively search through great employees and showcase their institute is only the beginning.

Like Phil said, blogging can lead to an increase in brand awareness and recognition. This goes a lot further than recruiting great talent. If your great talent can increase the visibility of your company through blogging and Social Media you can increase business and your ROI starts to increase. Both are win-wins in today’s economic state.

So, why aren’t HR professional in the Health Care industry using these tools such as blogging, video, Social Networking and the like? Phil goes on to state:

• There are nurses who use social media. But in my experience, many nurses are unaware of the tools out there. Perhaps because Main Stream Media paints a caricature of blogs and social media. Also nurses get so busy with providing healthcare and don't sit at desks with internet access at work all day that it's easy for the world to pass them by. Facilities should encourage, not discourage social media.
• HR professionals in health care might also feel that healh care professionals aren't online. A solution would be for HR professionals to develop educational materials to their employees and prospective employees. A web page devoted to Social Media Education could go a long way for adoption. The process has to be active, not passive.
• HR professionals need to understand the value to empolyees, patients and the facility itself in using social media. Education is the key.

The second point is a strong one. If there are no other health care professionals networking online then essentially you will have no one to talk with. That’s the theory at least. Well, it’s a good thing theories are meant to be tested and changed.

Why not be the first to market? Why not be the innovative leader? Putting yourself and these organizations out to the web will start a conversation, whether you know it or not. People will find you via the network, word-of-mouth or through search engines. Web 2.0 is all about conversations. Allowing your peers, clients and other professionals to converse with you is a great thing to have.

On HealthCareerWeb we have made this an easy option for health care companies to say YES to. When you have an account with HCW, you have the ability to connect with other professionals, job seekers and industry players as well as post events and forums. The tools have been built, now we need you to join the conversation!

So, where is your institution? Are they talking online or still trying to figure this Social Media thing out? Please leave your comments, answers and questions in the comments. If you have other needs or questions, please send an email to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com and we can set you up with a consultation on Social Media and HealthCareerWeb.

The other 2 articles in the series can be found here:

Orlando JobSpot

Employment Guide Spot Blog

-Greg Rollett

Healthcare and Social Networks

Disconnection. The feeling of not being in the know. Not sitting at the "cool" table at lunch and knowing what the "big shots" know.

These are problems that those looking for jobs often feel. There is a shallow feeling that you do not know what is going on behind closed doors.

HealthCareerWeb has opened that communication up. It is the attempt to connect a person to a posting and life into an empty position. With Social Networking, you get an open, 2-way communication stream. You are free to poke around. You are free to message and ask questions.

The best part, is that the people on Social Networks want to connect with you. They are on these sites to find like-minded individuals who share the same profession, passions, interests and friends/associates. Being a part of this community puts you in the know. It gives you a front row seat to watch the lunch tables, hear their thoughts and comment back.

Phil Bauman, a Registered Nurse enthralled with Social Media defines the term as:

"an ever-evolving interactive connection among people"

With HealthCareerWeb, the tools have been built for you to suceed and get involved in the inside of the job seeking process. Talk to other employees at the local hospital. Ask questions to recruiters. Look at pictures and events. All these things lead us back to improving the quality of our careers and occupation.

So, if you are a healthcare professional, take 5-10 minutes out of your day and create a profile. Browse the site for other like minded health care professionals in the greater Tampa area. See what the hospitals are saying. Liten to what other job seekers are saying. Take advantage of what is already built for you.

Happy hunting Tampa and have a great weekend!

-Greg Rollett