Creating Job Experience For The Resume…Without a Job!

You have the degree or degrees, but you are still unable to find a job. It’s like a Catch 22: “ How do I get the job experience, if I can’t get the job?” These few tips will help you stay connected to your field even though you aren’t currently working in your field.

Accepting a job outside the field

No matter what type of degree you have you, can pretty much apply it to any industry and it will get you a job. Since we are not in a perfect world, you must be willing to accept a job outside your field, temporarily of course, if you want to sustain your lifestyle.  Employers are looking for actual work experience in addition to education, so if you cannot get it in your desired career field then it is time to get some experience, somewhere. To avoid going too far off base, limit the jobs you’re applying to so that they still meet job duties that are applicable to your career choice. In the communications field you have to know how to adapt and recognize how job descriptions often overlap. Most times, accepting a job anywhere in the field of communications can be used to your advantage when revising your resume to the jobs that are relevant to your career. Whatever you do, do not lose the steam to keep applying or you WILL stay at that job and will never make advances in your passion of choice.

Freelance work

If you say you have a passion  now is the time to show and prove!  There are a lot of up and coming businesses that may or may not have the budget and are unaware of their need for Public Relations or Marketing or Social Media. Go out and make them aware! It is ok to accept a lower pay because at this point your main objective is to continue to stay active in your field so that you can continue to fuel your passion and show those jobs your tenacity and experience.

Social Media

Social Network relationships don’t cultivate themselves. It takes some work on your part, as would any other relationship. Continue to use social networking sites to reach out to potential employers; but don’t forget the most important thing of all…NETWORK!!! Do not network with the  intention of simply  getting a job, but rather, build meaningful relationships with the intentions to connect and offer  information. Posting relevant information about your field or engaging in discussion about topics related to your field can accomplish this.

Reading Materials

So you have you Bachelors and maybe even you Masters. Does that mean you can get away from educational reading? NEVER! Not if you want to be successful. Things are always changing so it is in your best interest to keep abreast with everything that is going on in your field.  Since you aren’t learning these things in the workplace, and you don’t plan on continuing your education in the classroom, then you need to make sure you are being proactive in your attempts to staying to date with information.

So take a moment to ask yourself — Are you being proactive or reactive in pursuing your career? What other tips have you tried to build your work experience and credibility in your field? Do you have any tips for ways to expand the tips that were given? Please share below.

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To Accept or Not to Accept?

I think it’s safe to say, we live in a very social society – social networking that is.

No matter who you meet, whether it is at the grocery store or your kids little league game, everybody and their momma (literally – AARP reported seniors are one of the fastest growing users of social media) are networking,  online.

But social networking can be exhausting: friends, followers, connections, +’s, the list goes on; but as a professional how are you managing to keep everyone in their respective categories??

Picking A Username: A Guide For The Indecisive

As somebody who regularly has to deal with a multitude of Twitter accounts, both personal and client-based, I often come across confusion when it comes to the thorny issue of naming your @account.But once you’ve picked the name you want, what else do you need to bear in mind? Here are some tips that people often forget:

Tell People!

This is the most common one I see – change your username and then don’t tell anybody that you’ve done it. I guess it comes about from an (incorrect) assumption that everybody is using a Twitter platform like you do, and that they’ll just be replying to something you’ve tweeted.

But if they sometimes use text messages to tweet, or simply feel like reaching out to you unprompted, not knowing that you’ve changed your @username will most likely result in a big misunderstanding. Save everyone the embarrassment, by telling people. And not just once either, remind them for a few days. The average tweet has a lifespan of 15 minutes, please don’t  assume your followers hang on your every word…

Keep your old username

Once you have your new username, set up a spare account and grab your old username. Then you can put up a tweet saying you’ve moved, maybe even set up an auto-tweet to let people who tweet you know that you have a new home. Simple and pain-free, and saves so much embarrassment if you forget.

Track mentions of the old name

Hopefully you’ll already have saved-searches or more sophisticated tools in use that keep track of mentions of your brand or name. If so, add your now-defunct username to these tools too, so you can make sure you’re not missing out on any messages that might be important.

Get it right the first time

Twitter supports are a lovely bunch, but getting changes made can be a tricky process at times. Try to avoid annoying them by making sure you get things right the first time.

So there you go, three easy tips, some probably fairly obvious, but all should help you make this process as pain-free as possible – not just for you, but for the people following you too!

HAPPO CHICAGO – February 24th

HAPPO or also known as “Help a PR Pro Out”  is coming to Chicago for a live interactive event.  Every young pro that is out there looking for a job in PR must participate. Last year this blog was used as a vessel for my self and several other PR professionals who participated in first ever HAPPO event online.

Fortunately the HAPPO movement is still pushing forward! And tomorrow Gini Dietrich of Arment Dietrich, along with other HAPPO champions will host a live HAPPO event tomorrow Feb. 24th, 2010  5-7pm, at the Arment Dietrich office. The event will be part panel discussion and part networking.

This should a very useful event for all young and new PRos.

Check out Spin Sucks for more details!!