Week 12- How to use social Network to boost your career?

So we all have social media networks and make connections but are those connections for personal reasons or not.  Social media is important but did we ever wonder about using our social media networks for job searching.

Allison Doyle article using social network to boost your career talks about social media searching which is using social media networks such as LinkedIn or Facebook for a job opportunities. Using these social media networks as job opportunities allows you to get a feel for the company and be able to check out the job right then and there and fill out the application instead of seeing the job post and then going into to fill out the application. Also by  seeking opportunities on social media networks it allows the job recruiters to see who you are.


Allison Doyle talks about how employer recruits use social media. She states more and more employers have been expanding their hiring procedures to incorporate social networking sites. hiring managers and recruiters use social media to source candidates, to post jobs, and to accept job applications(Doyle.2017). This is key because so much is being done online now and as mentioned already this gives us the employer a chance to dive in deeper on who you really are and how you would fit into their company.

Social media networks are great for the personal aspect of staying connected with your friends but keep in mind  of the job postings and that recruiters may be noticing what is being posted on your networks.

https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-use-social-networking-to-boost-your-career-2062607

Week 12- What Color is Your Parachute- How to deal with Any Handicaps you have?

Do you ever wonder what went wrong, why didn't I get the job or the interview? The reality of it is that your not alone everyone feels like that at some point in their life. Richard Bolles chapter is here to tell us that everyone is handicapped in some way and tells us to not think of all the reasons of why an employer wouldn't hire you but why they would be lucky to get you.

In chapter 10 Bolles mentions dream killers which are certain disabilities that knock down your dreams and he gives examples that show how to get around those dream killers. The example that stands out is "One career counselor was working with a young adult who was dying to be a commerical airplane pilot. The killer: his eyesight was too poor to be a pilot. Well, there was a clue as to where to go from there. It was the way our would-be pilot talked about planes. The counselor sent him to the airport to right down all the other occupations you can do their beside being a pilot and when he came back he told said he loved the idea of making the seats that they put inside new airplanes and now he still works in the airline industry"(Bolles.Chp10.2018). Don't be discouraged theirs ways around the dream killers.


Now this topic has been a upcoming issue with the prejudices of employers Bolles mentions 7 but I will talk about the first three 1. Is out of work too long.  This is not hiring you because you have been out of work for a year or more. 2. Is racial, religious, or sexual stereotypes being prejudiced against blacks, Muslims, Mexicans, or Asians, gays, transgender. The anti-discrimination laws won't stop them they will find a way around them. 3. Age this is the big one because alot of the baby boomers are starting to reach the retirement years but those of that age will get hired if they show the energy and positive attitude and don't show their age so to speak.

The biggest handicap is shyness so John crystal came up with a method called the PIE method which stands for Pleasure, Information Interviewing and Employment to get familiar with P which is pleasure is to get comfortable first talking to family and friends about a topic that interests you then your able to go from their and start it out with relating it to the job process.

Week 11- Social Media Digital Advertising

In 2017 it's no surprise that the way marketing is being done is through the Internet or some form of digital ad.  Christina Newberry article gives us some information that is of no surprise to us. "An anticipated $72.09 billion spent on digital ads in the United States alone in 2016, a number expected to rise to more than $82 billion next year and more than $113 billion by 2020"(Newberry.2016). Wow those are some big numbers but that's how fast this digital advertising is going.

So now that we got some statistics to show how serious this concept is lets talk about the top social media platforms that produce the most digital advertising which are Facebook and Twitter at the top. As we talked about in class social media ads are any paid content that an individual post to a social media network.

The new one is Hoot suite which has been using ads since 2012. The CEO Ryan Holmes laid out six ways to use social media ads to grow your business according to Christina Newberry article. Number 1 is to use free social media to beta-test your paid social ads this means using the content that you already post that is free and keep track of the responses that your receiving from those. Number 2 is to take advantage of targeting features which means targeting one group on one social media network and another group on another social media network.

Number 3 is rotate ads frequently that way your not losing business by repeating the same ads or messages over and over again which is what Hoot suite does a good job of allowing you to do. Number 4 use small samples to test the text and images used in your ads this is good because if you use a small audience and get feedback on several ads then your able to select which one to run with a bigger audience. Number 5 is understand how ads are sold in different networks this is key in knowing who's looking and if its a benefit to be paying or not.. Lastly number 6 is is to design ads with mobile in mind so that the user can access it on their mobile devices.

https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-advertising/

Week 11- What Color is Your Parachute

So we created a flower diagram with the seven petals but now your still confused well you have to start by figuring out what career or jobs the flower points you towards. Richard Bolle in chapter 9 starts by suggesting selecting your favorite from each petal knowledge's and skills and then show them to friends and family to see what kind of jobs they come up with based on what you give them. Then jot down everything they said then take that into consideration.


Second this chapter suggests trying on jobs before pursuing them. Start by thinking of these questions when asking people in the career or job that may interest you. "How did you get into this work?", "What do you like most about it?", "What do you like least about it?", And, "Where else could I find people who do this kind of work?"


Third, once you have narrowed it down then you need to find the organizations that have those jobs. This includes places that employ part-time, full-time, temporary workers, one project at a time, volunteers, startups, non-profit.

Fourth, find names of places that may interest you. Bolles says "successful job-hunt you should choose places based on your interest in them, and not wait for them to open up for vacancy".(Bolles.2018). This shows that your eager and then it also allows for keeping your options open.


Fifth this is key which is learning about the place before approaching them or looking for a job. Do research on the organization about what kind of work they do,style of working, and goals they are trying to achieve.

Last note it's all about how you interact with people and who you know. Bolles states " research has revealed that in general the more of a social life you have, the more people you know, the more time spend with people outside of work, the more likely you are to find a job"(Bolles.2018.).
Don't be afraid to go out and have fun and met people you never know what will come of it.

Bolles, Richard N."Chapter 9: You get to choose where you work". What Color is Your Parachute,  18th ed. Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp.199-215.

Week 10- What Color is Your Parachute

Chapter 8 is self-inventory Part 2 Richard Bolles talks about the flower exercise which includes seven petals and the center. The petals consist of people, workplace, skills, purpose, knowledge's, salary, and geography. Now lets talk about each petal individual.

1. You and People: This is describing who you are based on the kinds of people you can work with or help.

2. You and a Workplace: This is terms of your favorite workplace, or working conditions, indoors, outdoors, small or large.

3. You and Skills: Describe who you are in what you can do and your favorite transferable skills.

4. You and Your Purpose of Life: This is describing your goals or sense of mission in life.

5. You and the Knowledge You already have: By describing what you already know and what your interests.

6. You and Salary/ Responsibility: Preferred salary and level of responsibility, whether working by yourself, or with a team member.

7. You and Geography: Preferred surroundings such as warm/cold, north/south, mountains/coast, urban/suburban.

Bolles then walks us through each petal and then shows an example of Rich Feller Flower diagram. Rich Fuller learned from my flower the importance of "Being good at what matters to oneself and its relationship to opportunity. Personal clarity and responsibility for designing "possible selves""(Bolles.2018). This is very important to understand yes the employer decides on hiring you but you can help them with their decision by understanding who you and what you want and what you can bring to the table.

Bolles, Richard N. "Chapter 8: Self-Inventory Part 2". What Color is Your Parachute",  18th ed. Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp. 125-197.

Week 10 10/31- Ad Campaign

In class on 10/31 we learned how to set up a Facebook Ad Campaign for our Facebook page. Right now my Facebook page is just to post my blogs on for this class but it will eventually be used in the future for my business.

The ad that I created was to get more engagement on my Facebook page. So what I did was went into my personal Facebook logged in and then went into create ad. Once I was in there I was taken to a page asking me what my objective for my ad was whether brand awareness or reach.

Then once you select awareness and engagement it allows you to customize your audience whether you want a certain age group, location of people, etc.  Then after you customized your audience it allows you to then budget and schedule your ad. For the class we just used a budget of $25.00 and scheduled it for a week prior to making the ad. Then once you have created your ad it gives you the option to make it active or keep it inactive til your ready to release it.




Ad Campaign is very important and helpful to get your Facebook Page out there and allow other people the chance to see it. Below is my ad campaign I have choose to not active it at this time.

Week 9- What Color is Your Parachute

 Chapter 7: Self Inventory, Part 1 talks about why knowing who you are and what you can do is key to helping you get a job. Richard Bolles has seven answers to why this works so well. 1. By doing this homework on yourself, you learn to describe yourself in at least six different ways, and therefor you can approach multiple job-markets. 2. By doing this homework on yourself, you can describe in detail exactly what you are looking for. 3. By ending up with a picture of a job that would really excite you, and not just any old job,you will inevitably pour much more time, energy, and determination into your job- search. 4. By doing this homework, you will no longer have to wait to approach companies until they say they have a vacancy. 5. When you are facing, let us say, nineteen other competitors for the job you want- equally experienced, equally skilled- you will stand out above them all,because you an accurately describe to employers exactly what is unique about you, and what you bring to the table that others do not. 6. If you are contemplating a career-change, maybe- after you inventory yourself- you will see definitely what new career or direction you want for your life. 7. Unemployment is an interruption, in most of our lives. And interruptions are opportunities, to pause, to think, to asses where we really want to go with our lives.


Now that we got those out of the way in order to do a self-inventory there's some things that need to be taken into account. First one has to mentally prepare. Preparing is thinking back to the past of previous jobs and what your skills are. Bolle says instead of saying "I'm an accountant you must think instead I am a person who.... has had these experiences"(Bolles.2018). Then once you got that is important to write down everything about yourself and put it on one sheet of paper. After that it's important to prioritize what you want and don't want at your place of work and what skills you will be able to bring. Lastly it is important to figure out what is most important whether its salary, location, the people, the degree of skills or, degree of the job in the field.


In the end its about how you take the self-inventory and it all comes down to where you are in life and what is most important to you. What may be important for you may not be for someone else. That's why it's called the self-inventory and not the We-inventory or the Us-inventory because it's about each individual.

Bolles, Richard N."Chapter 7: Self-Inventory Part 1" What Color is Your Parachute, 18th ed, Ten Speed Press, 2018, pp. 111-123.