This is the fourth week of our summer 2009 interactive
project for sharing ideas how you, as a job
seeker with a visual impairment, can effectively use
social media for networking so you can gain meaningful
employment.
Here is this week's tip:
Do your research online about the industry, company
and job you're targeting before you join a social
network as a job seeker so you know what topics you
want to discuss and what questions you want to ask.
Both informational interviewing and social networking
carry you beyond the shotgun approach of blindly
sending out a bunch of resumes to companies and beyond
the routine of submitting your resume electronically
to job sites. Instead, they both allow you to target
the industry, the company and the job which are right
for you.
Social networking allows you to achieve that focus
with less time and work at a lower cost than you would
probably spend in conducting in-person informational
interviews.
For a glimpse of what is involved in making sure
you're prepared to ask the right questions in an
in-person informational interview, go to "Preparing
for Informational/referral Interviews" at
http://www.esight.org/view.cfm?id=0&room=n&x=1117
Some of the guidelines from that article for making
sure you're asking the right questions in an
informational interview are still valid, I think, in
the social networking environment you'll encounter
today as a job seeker.
For a list of those 14 guidelines, go to my entry for
this week on the eSight Networking Forum at
http://www.esight.org/link.cfm?n=1616
Those 14 guidelines again tell me that social media
have only expanded and streamlined our networking
opportunities -- not replaced any one tactic.
But one thing has not changed: the need to prepare for
a mutually helpful dialogue once you know what you
have to offer, once you can clearly express what you
offer and once you get connected with the right
people. You need to do your industry, company and job
research before you can ask the right questions. And
you can do that mostly online.
Please tell us what you think by replying to this
question in the eSight Networking Forum:
What online resources have best prepared you for
asking others the right questions about your job
search?
Share your thoughts by posting them at
http://www.esight.org/link.cfm?n=1617
Read all the postings from eSight members at
http://www.esight.org/link.cfm?n=1618
Liz Seger
Facilitator
eSight Careers Network(tm)
http://www.esight.org/
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