LinkedIn: A Professional Social Network

Amongst all of the social networks out there, LinkedIn is said to be one of the most professional. It began in May of 2003 and its usage has been rising ever since. Its purpose is based around the idea of business networking. The site allows you to connect to others, build your career, and get answers to common and innovative questions. You can either create a page dedicated to individual use or for a company/business.

LinkedIn’s About Us page reports “LinkedIn has over 41 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world.” This stat was recorded as of 2009.

Through LinkedIn you are able to upload a mock resume, list interests and upload a photo. You are able to search for people you know, meet new people, and find interest groups, as well as companies and jobs. People can write recommendations for others to see about you as well, similar to references. LinkedIn is free, but upgrading your profile costs.

The network includes a feature that allows people to introduce two people. This connection can build professional relationships and can cause beneficial help for companies.

LinkedIn is not only helpful by forming connections, but it also finding jobs. When looking at potential jobs, you are also able to see the companies account and learn a little more about them. Then from that account you are able to see accounts of others that are connected to it, such as employees.

The video below is provided by OneMinuteInterviewTips.com on YouTube. It gives a better description of LinkedIn while giving helpful tips for finding potential jobs.

Tough Interviewing Questions

Interviews are a time for the company to get to know you and for you to get to know the company. Most people try to prepare themselves before the initial interviewing by reading up on the company, such as what its purpose is, the job of the person interviewing you, and different objectives of the potential job. It is also important to prepare yourself for potential questions.

CollegeGrad.com gives create tips on how to better market yourself to potential job markets. One helpful link teaches readers how to answer ten of the toughest interviewing questions.

These ten questions are:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why should I hire you?
3. What is your long-range objective?
4. How has your education prepared you for your career?
5. Are you a team player?
6. Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor? How was it resolved?
7. What is your greatest weakness?
8. If I were to ask your professors to describe you, what would they say?
9. What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
10. If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?

“ ‘My education has focused on not only the learning the fundamentals, but also on the practical application of the information learned within those classes. For example, I played a lead role in a class project where we gathered and analyzed best practice data from this industry. Let me tell you more about the results . . .’ ” is a sample, answer example for number four.

CollegeGrad.com is an also great resource for other information pertaining college students.

*Photo: Collegegrad.com

Top Ten Cities for Recent Grads

Over the years the top ten cities for college graduates to move to has hardly changed. Since 2007 the some of the same sites have remained on the chart. These cities are ranked by recent grads on Gradspot.com listed upon the top ten places in the US for grads to get jobs. The map below shows where these cities are located. Top Ten US Cities for Young Professionals 1. Chicago 2. New York City 3. San Francisco 4. Washington D.C. 5. Seattle 6. Boston 7. Houston 8. Denver 9. Los Angeles 10. Atlanta




View Top Ten Cities for Recent Grads in a larger map

Ohio's Reputation Causes a Stir

Ohio University students have to overcome the label of attending a party school and turn their reputations into a professional base. Most companies are aware of the reputation Ohio has and usually incorporates it into an interview question. It seems students love the label but when it comes to getting a job it creates an obstacle.

Jane Sojka, a marketing professor at Ohio, brought this idea up in her fall marketing 358 class, Professional Selling Techniques. She talked about the idea that University of Wisconsin, the number one party school, is also number one for having the most alumni with jobs as CEOs. Professor Sojka discussed the idea of party school and how to reverse the negative effect of the label and use it positively. In her thoughts, a party school can also be considered a social school. Ohio University is a very social community.

On the other hand, some students have not seen this problem. Steve Allen, a 2008 graduate from Ohio University, did not come across problems with Ohio’s reputation while being interviewed for his current job. “The company I work for is all OU graduates; of the 30 people I work with like 18 r from OU.” Allen is currently working for Progressive located in Cleveland.

Mary Quinn, a junior at Ohio, studying public relations and English, has come across the party school reputation. “I was recently asked in a phone interview why I chose OU over Ohio State. It was because I wanted a new atmosphere and when I stepped onto the campus I just knew I belonged here.” Quinn also decided to attend Ohio because of its Journalism school, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Overcoming the drinking reputation is on the minds of Ohio students constantly. Students fear that they may be dismissed from a potential job opportunity because of the schools reputation. People are starting to build their professional life to overcome this hindrance.

Allen and Quinn are going about their normal days but using what they have to better prepare themselves for future interviews.

Allen transferred his sophomore year from Miami University Middletown to Ohio. It was not a difficult transition for him. He did a good job of balancing his time between school work and being with friends. Although companies were not as big on researching potential employees through social media, Allen was still cautious. “I made my profile private,” he said.

Quinn found it a little more difficult to build her professional reputation as times have changed. There are more social networks available that she needs to be aware. “It’s a way for me to get my name out there and to get to know people in my job area."

*Photo: http://www.collegefootballsidelines.com/2009/02/ohio-university-cheerleaders/

Best-Job-Interview.com Teaches Success

Everyone knows that you are bound to get the question “Tell me about yourself,” but who knows the best way to answer it?

Best-Job-Interview.com is a great source to visit before any career interview. This site has many different important areas that one should read before entering any interview. According to Best-Job-Interview.com, most people are unprepared before job interviews.

As mentioned before, one needs to stand out from the crowd to have any chance at the job. Great interviewing skills are one way. The purpose of this site is to guide job-seekers to the job they want. Experienced professionals have come together for this site to give their input to determine essential information for people.

This site contains a large amount of information (which many would not want to read) but the information is so helpful that people will want to stay. There are categories and sub-categories listed on the site as to help readers find exactly what they are looking for.

The site not only offers tips but also examples of thank you letters. Many people forget about thank you letters, but it is a very important part of the interviewing process.

Best-Job-Interview.com gives tips for different interviews, from the type (panel, phone, group, etc.) to the field (nurse, sales, teacher, etc.). As it may not contain all jobs and types of interviews it is informative to read the other tips just to get an idea.

The site has a second informative part, a blog. Followers of the blog are able to receive updates when Best-Job-Interview.com is updated with new tips.

It only takes a few minutes to learn what is proper to become professional in order to obtain that desired job. Best-Job-Interview.com is just one great source.

*Photo: Creative Commons http://search.creativecommons.org/

Building Your Brand

Companies are about building a brand. A brand is emotion or feeling attached to a product. Today, not only are companies using the act of branding, but now job seekers are branding themselves.

According to a news article from ABC News, recent graduates and current students need to do whatever it takes to stand out from their competition in the work force. Today the job market is becoming more and more competitive due to the falling of the economy and other personal reasons for the companies.

A personal brand is a great way to stand out from peers, reports ABC’s Lindsey Pollak. Author and publisher Dan Schawbel, has a blog dedicated to this exact topic. He states that personal branding is the process in which we market ourselves to others. Make sure your brand represents who you are and who you want to be.

Going into the job searching process we want to find certain aspects about ourselves that make us more appealing to companies compared to the next person. It may be hard to find something but it can be anything from something on the resume to something you wear. On a resume you should include information that pertains specifically to the company in which you are applying to. The parts can range form extra curricular activities, education or hobbies. Base it on your passion.

There are many options for building a personal brand such as:

Ø LinkedIn

Ø Jobfox

Ø VisualCV

Ø Blog

Ø Web Site

Get your name out there. There are many ways to get yourself known, just make sure it is the way you want it to be known.

Professional Dress Options

The slideshow below represents good examples of outfits to wear to possible job interviews. As these pictures are listed under certain job titles, they can be used for other interviews. The examples shown are for journalism, psychology, marketing, interior design and architecture.


(Click on photos to see their captions)