Learning the importance of Social Media for the GCDF Today

As we begin to delve into the endless ways that social media can assist you in successfully helping clients, let's make one thing clear:

IT HELPS YOU MORE!

Build a professional identity on LinkedIn, follow career experts on Twitter and watch You Tube videos of the lastest interviewing trends.  Sure, your clients will be helped but so are you as a professional.

Today's service model is all around the career advisor as the expert.  You have to know your stuff and be agile with every client served regardless of their work experience.

Simple things that can help you now:

Read a career related book once a month
Build your LinkedIn profile with two connections a week or more
Get a Twitter account if you haven't already.

Finally, use this AMAZING resource with clients. 
It is called "Careers Out There" with host Marc Luber. 

He interviews professionals in careers that your client may be considering.  Very informative, engaging and well worth your time. 

Building Your Linkedin Profile

Hello everyone!!!

We look forward to seeing our GCDF colleagues who are registered to attend the November 18-19 training in Lexington.  It will be focused on the importance of resume editing and development along with social media tips.  We will study Twitter, LinkedIn and the power each tool provides for you are a career advisor.

For now, we encourage you to build your LinkedIn profile and continue to increase your connections.  A recent poll suggested that 80% of hiring managers (nationally) will "google" potential job candidates.  The stronger your LinkedIn profile is, the more likely you are to have that at the top of your Google search.

http://www.linkedin.com/

LinkedIn Summary Section Tips

Social Media expert Jason Alba is a "go to" person for tips on using LinkedIn (LI). You may be familiar with his book I'm On LinkedIn Now What? or his DVDs on how to use LinkedIn more effectively. He recommends the following four tips for making the most of your LI Summary section.

1) You are allowed up to 2000 characters in this section - use them.
2) Don't cut and paste your resume in this section (it should go in the Profile section).
3) Tell up to six compelling STAR (Situation/Task, Action, Results) stories emphasizing prior work accomplishments. Quantify when possible (i.e. #, $, %)
4) Load up on industry key words and phrases.

Remember to make sure that you stay on brand. Also, communicate what you are passionate about and what you bring to the table. By utilizing these tips, your LI summary section will be much stronger.

LinkedIn Group for CDFs

Career Development Facilitators have recently started a group on LinkedIn.com. To join, simply go to your LinkedIn account and search for "Career Development Facilitators" under Groups. Start a discussion or share comments.

Job Search Strategies

-Trying to find your supervisor from a job ten years ago where you made an outstanding contribution?
-Wish you could find a contact at XYZ company before you submit a resume and cover letter?
-Wanting to learn more about the career background of the person who will be interviewing you next week?

These are some of the reasons job seekers are choosing to utilize social networking job search tools like LinkedIn.com. Although our clients can’t count on simply filling out a profile and waiting for employers to find them, tools such as LinkedIn can help aid their job search in the above ways.