Alison Doyle

JibberJobber Anniversary Special

JibberJobber is a terrific tool for managing your job search and much more.   It's a way to keep track of where you have sent your resumes, the jobs you apply for, and your your personal networking contacts.

To celebrate JibberJobber's two-year anniversary celebration they are offering a buy-one-year-get-one-year-free, so each month comes down to less than $5. Just login to your account and you’ll see the upgrade link at the top of the page.  Don't wait - the offer expires on Monday.

Besides all of that, which is important, of course, Jason Alba, JibberJobber's CEO is one of my favorite people.  I don't often get to meet my online friends and colleagues in person, but I was thrilled to meet Jason during a visit to Utah last year.  I have plans to meet him again this summer.

Jason is not only a leader in the job searching world, providing a very useful tool to job seekers.  He's an expert in online communications and networking, branding, and relationship building. He's also a  successful author with books on using both LinkedIn and Facebook.  Happy  Anniversary, JibberJobber and congrats, Jason.

Job Searching Facebook Group

Interested in job searching and career building advice, tips, and techniques,  job searching technology, online networking, and professional branding?  Join us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17420995086

The Job Searching Group is open to everyone who's interested in jobs and careers.

Building My Professional Brand

I've been having fun working on building my professional brand this week.  I've updated my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.  I've polished up my VisualCV and I've signed up for Twitter.

In addition, I've been having some interesting discussion with colleagues on how their work, their career, and their online presence has benefited from spending time on all this stuff.  It is time consuming, but the bottom line is that there wasn't one of us who said they hadn't benefited from the time they spent creating profiles, networking online, getting the RSS for their blogs out there, and communicating with contacts.  It works and once you get your profiles set, it really isn't that much work to utilize all these online networking sites effectively.

Here's a look at where I am with building my brand:

• My LinkedIn Profile
• My Facebook Profile
• My VisualCV
• Twitter
• My About.com Job Search Bio

And, if you Google "Alison Doyle" you'll see how these have helped enhance my presence in the search engines - providing good information to anyone looking me.   Nine out of the top 10 search results are my links.

Networking on the Phone

If you have a web enabled phone, starting now, you can used LinkedIn on it. Visit m.linkedin.com to get started. You can view profiles (great when you're at a conference and want to find out more about someone you have just met), invite connections, access LinkedIn answers, and send messages to your contacts.  Here's more on LinkedIn Mobile.

By the way, you can do the same with Facebook.  Facebook Mobile lets you do just about everything you can do on your computer on your cell phone (if you have web access).  So, take advantage and stay connected, regardless of where you are.

By the way, it never hurts to have actual conversations with your connections every once in the said.  There is still something to be said for phone communications and staying in touch the old fashioned way.

Watching the Super Bowl

I probably shouldn't admit this, given that I'm a New Yorker and the Giants are in the Super Bowl, and given that we have a second home in Vermont and the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, but I mainly watch the game to see the commercials.

There are no CareerBuilder chimps this year, they had already gotten a pink slip and CareerBuilder's work as a jungle is gone, too. That's probably good, those ones didn't impress me.  This year CareerBuilder is starting a brand new ad campaign that focuses on getting job seekers motivated and geared to move up the career ladder. The ads aren't just on the web and on TV.  You'll see ads on mass transit and buildings in New York City and Chicago, and CareerBuilder is planning "unhappy hours" in several cities, as well as visits to college campuses.  This follows Monster's new Perfect Job ad campaign.  I love the giant legs commercial.

I've also seen a commercial recently for The Ladders. This one has the message that The Ladders is just for 100K plus job seekers and the employers who hire them.

What this really means, of course, is the job sites want you.  They want job seekers to use their sites, post their resume, and apply for jobs.  Some of the job searching business is moving to the job search engines and the the networking sites (LinkedIn and Facebook) so, the job sites want to stay on your radar, and get your business.  What's important, regardless of who is enticing you with commercials, is to use the sites that work for you. Certainly try a few, but if you're getting a good response from employers (and those responses are converting to interviews) stick with what works.  Just because it's out there, doesn't mean you have to use it.

Getting a Job Without Even Trying

Sometimes, it appears that we get job offers without even trying.  Someone we know needs someone with the skills or experience we have and they mention they're hiring, and there is, all of a sudden, a job offer on the table.

Even though it doesn't seem like you tried, if you spent a bit of time staying in touch with the connection who gave you the job lead, you tried.  If you built your LinkedIn network and are current with what's happening in your field, you tried. It's all part of career building and getting yourself situated, so people think of you when they have a job you need to fill.

In fact, experts suggest that you should be managing your career throughout your working life - rather than just job searching when you have to.  Here's more on managing your career vs. job searching from Jason Alba, CEO, JibberJobber.

Going to the Dogs

Dogs have always been important to my life.  Ian wasn't my first Golden Retriever, but he was very special and touched a lot of lives in the too short time we shared with him.   Writing about Ian, in the  midst of tears, both helped with the grief of losing him and helped me realize that maybe I really was a real writer - I could write words that made a difference.

Unexpectedly, dogs have also helped my career. Joyce Lain Kennedy has always been one of my heroes in the world of careers.  She's been a terrific mentor to me over the years and I still have the first email she sent me, many years ago, where she told me she liked my About.com Job Search site.  Joyce and I, at some point, became more than fellow career/job search writers.  We started talking about our pets and realized we were both "dog people" - you'll know what that is, if you are one.

When SimplyHired launched their Dog Friendly Companies page, Kay Luo, who is now LinkedIn's Corporate Communcations Manager, let me know about it (she worked for SimplyHired then).  We started talking and realized we had dogs in common - Spaniels (Cockers for her and a Clumber for me).  The picture above is Ollie, the Clumber Spaniel, who, to put it nicely, can be a challenge!

Both Joyce and Kay have helped me in more ways than I can count, and I'll give that dog connection some of the credit.  So, whether it's dogs or sports or something else you have in common with your contacts, it can help to notch up your relationship to a little more than business.   You can not only make friends who share your interests, but it can help build your career and your connections.  Here's more on using your connections and building your network.

Happy Anniversary

It's my 10th About.com anniversary this month.  I started with what was then the Mining Co. back in January, 1998.  I was the Guide for the Albany, NY site.  I took over the About.com Job Searching site in June, 1998.  I'm not quite sure where all those years have gone.  My teenage daughter was in kindergarten when I first became a Guide.  I don't think she has any recollection of life without About. 

It's amazing how much online job searching has changed since I started writing about it.  There weren't any job search engines or networking sites.  Uploading your resumes and letters was a cumbersome process.  Email didn't have all the bells and whistles it has now back then, either.  There was no YouTube, where, today, you can find candidate videos and company recruiting videos.  Second Life was a figment of someone's imagination and who would have thought you could, one day, get hired virtually for a real job?

Sometimes, I wish I had kept track, so I could have written a history of online job searching, but keeping up with the changes is more than enough work!

Another anniversary to note is my husband Mike's second anniversary as the About.com Skiing Guide.  He's built a terrific site, and best of all, he's had lots of fun, and gotten in lots of skiing in lots of places, doing it.

Speaking of fun, I've written, probably too much, on how work should be fun and how important it is to do what you love.  About.com has provided me the opportunity to do that for a long time - and I appreciate it more than I have the words to say.  Thanks to all the staff there, and thanks as well, to the career experts who have shared their advice, and the job seekers who have shared their stories with me.  I couldn't have done this without you.

Internet Your Way to a New Job

I'm pleased (and proud) to announce that my new book is going to be published in the near future.

Internet Your Way to a New Job: How to Really Find a New Job will provide you with everything you need to know and step you through the process of online job searching, professional branding, social and professional networking, and career building with uncomplicated advice, tips, and techniques on how to effectively find a new job and grow your career. 

I appreciate all the tips and suggestions from job seekers and career professionals who were kind enough to share their expertise and their job search stories with me. 

Alison's Favorite Job Search Sites

I always have fun figuring out which sites to include on my list of favorites.  I should probably have a list of the sites that were a waste of everyone's time - mine and job seekers, too, but the it's the holiday season and better to be nice than nasty. 

This year, I have quite a few sites on my list.  There are some new sites that really impressed me and there are some old favorites that everyone looking for a job should be using. Here's a quick list of my picks for this year's favorite job search and career building sites.

More About Alison Doyle

• About.com Job Searching
  
• LinkedIn Profile: Alison Doyle
• Facebook: Alison Doyle
• Alison's Bio