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The Search

2 May, 2010 in The Story | 19 comments

Over the past months you have been reading about my journey through social networking, social media and creating an Online Presence to find that job. But how did I get that job using this medium that everybody is talking about, social networking. Is there anything to all this hype?  Believe the hype, social networking does work. I was a non-believer but now a true believer of social networking. This is my story of finding that job, which includes the “real world crap” as quoted in the thread, My Personal Brand, by my friend, Ken. Be warned, some of it does get ugly but in the real world, nothing is ever as pretty as it seems :roll: .

There I was unemployed with GFC in full flight. I had no choice but to social network as I had been told it was the only way to find work through these tough economic times.  I have to tell everybody I know that I am looking for work so people can help me. I join LinkedIn, The Story Begins… and win my personal brand advertisement at JobCAMP.  

I received one direct interview, with a recruitment agency, from the ad. This was extremely disappointing especially after all the hype at JobCAMP. The recruiter, who interviewed me was “let go” a week after, due to the GFC. He has since called and met with me again with another opportunity but did not eventuate.

The response could have been due to a couple of factors. The ad placement, it was great that I got such a high profile spot in the newspaper and the job boards but don’t believe they were the right places as these are places where job seekers are looking and not potential employees. I was looking for work, I believe placement in the Business section of the newspaper or the Executive Style section of the website would have been a better choice. An Australian connection, living overseas, had trouble recalling the ad then the posting of My Personal Brand he recalled it but thought it had been misplaced and ignored it :-( . The other reason of course was that we were in the middle of the GFC.

It was really quiet for weeks. I was forced to start blogging, I had my hands tired behind my back, I had no choice as there was nothing else to do. It was a real struggle starting and continuing the blog during this time. I was also talking to a lot of recruiters who were not allowed to use social networks to find candidates or even knew what a blog was, like me at the beginning. Very disheartening, this is when I nearly stopped blogging, Becoming a Blogger.

I keep on doing what I learnt a JobCAMP, keep networking. So I do. We were told that “every connection is a good connection”.  I start surfing my network, reaching out to people I believe maybe able to help me in my quest. Though at the time I was getting confused at who I was surfing for? Connections to understand social media in more depth, other social networkers, connections who share many, many of my connections, recruiters and more recruiters, and accepting every invitation that was sent to me.

After networking for the past 12 months, I believe that this statement is only true for some and not for others. I do not believe that every connection I have made has brought me the benefits that social networking has to bring. Only unwanted invitations onto networks that have no association with being a business analyst or related work, or recruiters that do not live in Australia or those who do not want to learn from my experiences, which is always disappointing and many hanger-on-er’s.

I received many interviews with recruiters who in turn did not return calls after the interview. Even though during the interview they were very enthusiastic about meeting and future prospects they had for me. One recruitment company had very stringent rules with the handling of their candidates. I ended up with a recruiter from the public sector. She knew it was not right but she did try to help me and did go to at least one interview, though I did get a rant out of it :oops: . In general, the recruiters were very good, they are trying to do the best they can do in very hard situations and some I developed a great rapport with.

So many consulting companies that I lost count, some short term, some long term contracts and even some full time work but…

  1. the firm would not get the contract so I would not get the job
  2. I am a data analytics BA not an IT BA, so many times…
  3. worked too much corporate, and one basically said I would a princess and would not know how to work in a small firm, maybe a little bit true, only sometimes, but is expected in corporate life, :-?  and,
  4. many that did not suit me.

I also received opportunities from some corporates, through them searching their networks. One had done all reference checks before they contacted me with an interview. Went to the interview, but you know when you step into an interview and you know and they know. Forty minute interview, with an answer at the 30min mark but the HR person had not looked at my blog at all, even though the other that reached out to me looked at my profile :-| .

Before my journey began, I was hitting the job boards. Everything and anything, one of these was a role I did not have enough experience but my resume was passed onto another recruiter in this very large recruiting agency. This recruiter became one of my best leads. I never met her and we spoke on a very regular basis, I did eventually meet with one of her colleagues but the opportunity did not eventuate. Every opportunity she had, was passed onto me, some did not suit but she sent me to interviews.

One of these was an interview with a very large Japanese company. They did not give me any notice. The recruiter rang in the late afternoon, with a one paragraph JD and 2 interviews the next day. The first with the C-Level and the next with the hiring manager in 2 suburbs, not close by.

I was not prepared. After the interviews, I believe the hiring manger liked me but the C-level did not. I did not have my left-of-centre personality out there, I was very conservative and also very nervous. Though, after 2½ hrs of interviews, I was very excited about the opportunity. But in the end, I did not receive any feedback. The recruiter rang so many times to reach the HR people but no response at all. That is just so poor.

So how do I get their attention? I know it was not me in the interviews. My first thought was to use my network to try and reach out to this C-level. I received some feedback from my network but it didn’t work. I have a blog, I can show them what I can do. Operations Dashboard for a Matrix Organisation was born, my first theoretical data analytics post.

The response from my data analytics posts has been well received and continues to appear in search engines. With these analytics posts, I received offers to speak overseas, in Asia and the US, at conferences and training programs. They would list out the people that had previously spoken at these events and I was extremely flattered that they would consider me in that league. I would write back to these people and received an offer from one of these events. It did put a smile on my face, in times when I would say was one of my low moments.

My recruiter was very pleased that I had gone to the effort to write the post and said no other candidate she had come across had written a post for an opportunity. She had tried to contact the HR person but no response, she contacted the C-level directly, and again no response.

Time lapses, I had an interview with a consulting company, they really wanted to hire me but did not have a role for me. The consultant said I would not have liked the culture of the Japanese company, the left-of-centre in me, so no great loss but it certainly didn’t feel like it at the time.

Sigh… :cry:

  

Next post in The Story -> Landing that Job

 

 

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An Interview with Colleen by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

21 February, 2010 in The Story

Using social media as part of your BA job search strategy.

Colleen Chan, “Business Analyst with a Difference” from Sydney, Australia, shares her inspiring story about her entrance into LinkedIn and blogging and discovering a true passion for social media all as a result of trying to find that “next opportunity”.

Read More…

 

“Bridging the GAP – Out of chaos, we create order. Out of disagreement, we create alignment. Out of ambiguity, we create clarity. But most of all, we create positive change for the organizations we serve.”

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Reaching Out

31 January, 2010 in The Story, Web 2.0 tips | 6 comments

This tragic love affair we have with our technology is having a snowballing affect on our lives everywhere. Now we need to social network to find a dollar. It is not what you know, it is who you know. But even now, it is not just who you know, you still have to be able to show the what you know or otherwise you are at a standstill. And social networking is the way people are doing it.

How do I do it? How do I social network? You are feeling very frustrated. There you are sitting in front of the computer, filled in your profile and connected to the colleagues you know. Then comes the question, how do I build up that network so I can reach out to people and people will reach out to me to help me in my situation?

Number 1. The most important thing is you must keep remembering, why am I social networking? Why am I here in this space? Am I here to find a job, to build up my business, to be an open networker, to find like minded people, to find a mentor, or just to stay connected with my colleagues and friends? And do consider why these people are networking as they may not be networking for the same reason as you.

Number 2. Your profile. No dodgy photos, we must be able to see your face and think about who you want to attract with your photo. If you are out to find a partner, then go for it but remember others are also looking at your photo and those connected to you who have to see your network updates all the time. Luckily for “hide network updates” and “stop following”, not that I have any of these on my network :lol: .

Fill in every section of your profile, do not leave any of the sections empty or missing. Summaries of your achievements in your jobs. There is no use just putting where you worked and your recommendations. What are you being recommended for? If you have other interests, include them. Tell people what you want them to know about you.

If these are not done then who are you? A slice of profile amongst the other 55 million you are competing against? I go into detail about building a profile in LinkedIn, The Campaign Begins and My Personal Brand. Read them, over and over again if you must. I know this will be boring but these are the questions you must ask yourself.

This will not take a day, a weekend or even a week for that matter. This will take time, you do have to do some deep thinking and maybe even some soul searching. Who do you want to portray and can you do it in real life. No use saying you are upbeat when you are a grumpy bastard :roll: . Focus on the positives and your achievements. Once you get there, there will be a clear direction and you will know :-) .

Number 3. Invitations. DO NOT send generic invitations. I don’t know how many posts I have seen about this topic, it is sooo…boring but I have to bring the topic a front as well :-| . Yes, I have been an offender but I have learnt and now I am teaching you.

When sending invitations to people, the question you have to ask yourself, how is this person going to help me in my quest and how can I help this person if we are connected? If the person is receiving a generic invitation, then how is the person to know that the connection will be of mutual benefit? We are being social here, there is always give and take. Whether the satisfaction of reaching out to others with shared interests or a business relationship with monetary value or finding that job.

So how do I connect to people? Introduce yourself, why their profile interested you, why you want to be connected to them and how you can help each other. Many people will accept these invitations and will appreciate your initiative.

Those who maybe able to help you on your quest. Interact. This why others are social networking, to connect to people of interest. Send offline notes before asking if you could send them an invitation. You never know they may send you the invitation first. Or you find that you have nothing in common and lose interest.

Recruiters. Aim only for those in the local area. Send them a note asking if they would preview your profile so you could send them your resume. Once you have been able to send the resume, ask if you can meet with them. Meeting is good, they are always going to remember you. And always remember if you have met a recruiter offline to ask if you can send them an invitation. If you cannot meet with them ask if you can send them an invitation and reasons for connecting with them.

I am a business analyst struggling to find that job and telling my story along the way. The story is to show that anybody can do it. The satisfaction I receive from being in the social media is being able to touch people with my blog through My Story, Rants and Data Analytics. This is my reward and landing that job, I’m not one for collecting connections :roll: .

Number 4. Interact. How do I find these people and how do I interact with them? Join groups, join as many groups as possible, doesn’t matter what size they are, actually the smaller the better, a more attentive audience. Follow the discussions. Get weekly email for updates from your groups so you can scan through the discussion list, you will eventually find a topic of interest.

You have searched for weeks, which means you have not tried hard enough, and you finally find a topic you can comment on but you don’t want to leave a comment. Think first what type of comment it is going to be. Are you going to agree with the author or disagree? If you agree with the author then reply privately. If you disagree, find somebody who has left a comment with the same conclusions as your own and reply to them privately. Then continue the conversation offline.

Please do reach out to people that have the same interests as your own. No good reaching out to business analyst if you are not one or you believe the person may be able to help you but they are social networking for their own purposes. You must have common interests and benefits that each can perceive. If you want people to reach out to you then you will have to leave a comment. Doesn’t matter if it is a failed comment like mine, Being Proactive. The connection I made then, this person still mentors me today :cool: .

The best way to have people reach out to you is to post your own discussions. But what type of discussion will I post? Think about what makes you passionate. I am passionate about finding that job so I am posting my story about finding that job and my data analytics to show people what I have been doing and can do. Doesn’t matter what you post, even if you are wanting to connect to like minded people, as long as you have passion for it. There are groups out there that cater for everybody’s needs.

Do not be afraid to post, do direct your posting to the correct group and the correct space, discussions, news or jobs section. Do not SPAM in one group, people will start ignoring your postings. If the group leader says something about your posting, shrug your shoulders and move on. There are so many postings out there that your one is not going to make a difference. Do not be disappointed if nobody responds. If you post in enough groups then you a bound to get a response somewhere.

I have been very lucky, I have had many, many people reach out to me through my postings. Each person has had a positive effect on my journey and I thank them all very much. Posting your own discussions will attract like minded people and those who are willing to help.

This is only a small glimpse into what I have learnt along this journey of mine. I am sure there is so much advice in the cyber world that this little post will also get lost in the many other postings but this is what I have experienced on my journey, some good, some bad. 

Good luck with your social networking efforts. Enjoy this new journey you are on, there are so many interesting people out there ready and willing to reach out to you but you have to make the effort. No good putting a partial profile up and then just sitting there expecting something to happen for you. It doesn’t work that way, you have to be social and work hard at it. You will make mistakes but that is part of the learning process. In the end, all the pain will make this one of the most rewarding journeys you will travel ;-) .

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The Campaign

22 September, 2009 in The Story | 8 comments

It is Friday evening and I am feeling very anxious. I had been an extremely private person in the past and was very reluctant in the beginning to even join LinkedIn and now I was having a complete campaign focused on my personal brand. :-?

I start uploading all my stuff on to my profile. My new head shot, new headliner, my personal brand and my resume has been summarised into my LinkedIn profile.

Now I am ready to post a new discussion on all my group boards. You can imagine how nervous I was feeling. I was already overwhelmed with the response to my original discussion and now the whole campaign was going to be there for all to see. My stomach was churning. You know what I really wanted to do was to turn the clock back and be a vegetable about the whole situation but no chance of that happening. You can see how my brain was not functioning correctly through this blog and all the emoticons.

My discussion announcing the launch of the campaign.

Over the past few days some of you would have seen my discussion on personal branding. Is it going to work? Will I have a career self destructing moment like an Australian football star? Will I get my 15 minutes like the British lady on a reality talent show? Or will I float away like a leaf in the autumn breeze?

You be the judge.

Tomorrow, 23rd May, there will be 2 campaigns running concurrently.

1. Paper campaign. There will be an ad in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald, general news section.

2. Digital media campaign. From Saturday through to Monday (local Sydney time), the campaign will be on the home page of www.MyCareer.com.au

I would like thank Job Camp, ‘Getting Australia Working” for inspiring me to think differently about my career and work, The Face Euro RSCG for the campaign and to the sponsors MyCareer.com.au.

And thank you to all who have taken an interest in my campaign.

Please check out my campaign, “Check with Chan”.

The online campaign was to begin at midnight which means the rest of the world is still awake or even just starting their day. I wake in the morning and head to the corner shop for the weekend paper. I am excited wondering what the campaign looks like in the paper and the placement of the ad. This is the whole of the SMH page 4 for the 23rd May. The young man says, “This is only the beginning, you will be on page 1″, yeah right :-| .

The email inbox is next. I am not overwhelmed there are a few comments on my discussions and they were all new people, nobody from my previous discussion. I start getting emails, text messages from my friends, a couple of recruiters and a call from one very excited gentleman from our southern highlands who was very animated about the ad in the paper. I now had 2 online ads, a paper ad and my online discussions but compared to the posting of my first discussion the response was quiet.

Saturday passes, Sunday comes along, something is not right but I don’t know what. I feel like I am floating away like a leaf in the autumn breeze. Sitting, waiting, waiting for something to happen. It is late Sunday afternoon, then, it all of a sudden dawns upon me, OMG! 8O I know it was the dumbest thing I have done since being on my journey. You know when they talk about people talking to themselves, well, the swear words just flowed. I could not believe want I had done. I had deleted the first discussion! So all those people following my discussions were all gone! :x

I don’t know what was in my head when I was deleting the original discussion. I had stopped at one stage but thought ‘why do I need this first discussion?’ I did not think about when I posted my first failed comment I received email for comments following mine. What was I going to do! :cry: I pace and pace and pace then I realise I have the LinkedIn emails from those who posted or wrote to me offline, I can save some :| .

I spent Sunday night sending a personal LinkedIn note to all those who posted a comment or sent me a thread offline. The following grovelling personalised email was sent to everybody.

I must apologise for deleting my initial discussion. It was very rude of me especially when you had taken an interest and had gone into the effort to write something on my discussion.

I am very new to networking no MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or anything else like that. LinkedIn is the first network group I have joined and only since the end of March. But have now realised the benefits of connecting.

I did not realise the payback of adding onto my original discussion and how it would always be on top if there was enough interest, hits or comments.

So please accept my apology and I hope you still get a chance to catch my campaign at www.mycareer.com.au , homepage, the ad is in an advertisement box on the right hand side, the ad may take a bit of time to stream through.

I would love your feedback and thank you for taking an interest in my campaign.

Since the campaign was running until Monday midnight (it was only extended a further 24hrs on Monday), many people would not see the note until after it had finished. So I had a strategy, if they answered and saw the online ad, they got a generic invitation and then a thank you note afterwards.

Then there were those who answered after the online ad ended. I sent them a following note but it was even more personalised with their name in the middle of the paragraph and a generic invitation to my network. I start copying, pasting, send the notes and then the invitations to my network. Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste, then I realise I have personalised the note in the middle as well. So all these people are getting notes with the name ‘Tim’ in the middle of the paragraph :oops: . So I have to send another apologetic note, saying this is what happens when you do a copy and paste.

Out of all the notes I sent, only 2 did not accept my invitation. I realise now I should have sent a personalised invitation after they answered but because I was new, everybody answered my note accepted my invitation. How do I know this? I was told by many. But since then I have accepted many generic invitations myself, I believe in expanding my professional network and sharing my network with others. Though I do like the personalised invitations, it does make one remember who one is. :-)

I have sort of saved the connections that I have reached out to through my discussions. But where are the people wanting to hire? Was it because I stuffed up the original discussion note. This should not be a reason as the original campaign was only based on the local paper advertisement. The week begins and I get further feedback from those who saw the ad in the paper. I also have a couple of interviews with recruiters but none with direct leads :-| .

What I do find out though, much later, like weeks and weeks, is that people have written about the campaign. This is what happens when you google your name which I had not done until well after the campaign launch. Mentions in comments on other blogs, and the following and surprising links about the campaign.

 
Bandt.com – cutting edge, must read news that the advertising and marketing professional cannot live without, Jobseeker becomes the brand, on page 3.

Turning Leaf Blog, Fantastic Marketing – Of A Person!

My friend, Dr Nancy Dailey, Bragging Rights, Women and Personal Branding, where I also receive a mention in the Future Women Leaders blog. :?

 
From my friends at JobCAMP :

Raz Chorev, JobCAMP supervisor, Check With Chan – Personal Branding Campaign;

Luke Harvey-Palmer, JobCAMP creator, JobCAMP WIN a Personal Brand Campaign;

The Face, which I only found today, the Check with Chan campaign including complete Sydney Morning Herald advertisement and placement.

 
Notice I have not commented on any of the blogs or any others where I should have to get more coverage. I didn’t know how to. Not like I didn’t know how to type in the square. It was that fact that I had never encountered web 2.0 and just didn’t know what do to. Like what I did with my first discussions :-? .

Time passes, I have learnt from my faux pas and I am still working my network. I have my coverage with the help of my JobCAMP family, I have my growing connections and I have many interviews but no job. I arrive at another, ‘But what now?’ point.

 

Next post in The Story -> Online Presence

 

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The Campaign Begins

2 September, 2009 in The Story, Web 2.0 tips | 2 comments

I’m getting ready for my week ahead, listing all the things that have to be done.

  1. My headliner has to be changed.
  2. Daily status updates on my LinkedIn profile.
  3. New head shot as my profile photo was the only recent one I had and had been cut out from a distant sisters’ shot. (Thanks Jai for sneakily taking that photo at Chinese New Year otherwise I would have had none).
  4. Posting discussions on all my group boards.
  5. My Personal Brand.

1.  Headliner
Currently my headliner is boring, Business Analyst seeking Opportunities. I have to make the title so it attracts people to my profile. I take slices out of the introduction that The Face had produced for the advertisement. “Analyst, can take complex problems and data, making them understandable to financial people and to everyone in the business”.

2. Daily Status Updates
I can be a very talkative person but I am not the type of person who is likely to tell all my connections what I am doing on a daily basis. It is to remind my connections that I am around and something is about to happen. So I do daily update status reminding my connections I have won a personal branding campaign and that it will be launched on Saturday in the SMH.

3. Profile Photo
Isn’t it always the way it goes. I am so stressed about the campaign I have a giant pimple in the middle of my cheek! I can’t even remember the last time I had a pimple on my face and it has to come up the only time when I don’t want one to! Photographer, Paul Kennedy, whom I met at JobCAMP, made the session fun. I usually feel very self conscious when posing for photos but we had laughable moments. Ok, I admit to photoshop but only the pimple was removed and now longer exists :-) . Paul would not photoshop anything else as he said it would take the character out of the photo. Oh, so I can’t remove the bags under my eyes and my freckles… ok… :-(

4. Group Discussion Boards
I’m ready to be a content creator, not really. Then I realise there is only an ad in the local paper therefore only the essence of the personal brand campaign will be in my LinkedIn profile and not the complete campaign with the ad. Thought I could get away with it but it was confirmed that MyCareer.com.au who were sponsoring the ad were also going to include an online campaign on their homepage and the homepage of TheBigChair.com.au.

Now I have to create a discussion. I am very scared. I see all the discussions on the group boards, sometimes the discussions get heated and sometimes there are no comments at all. What do I write about so I can get people’s attention and not be beleaguered or left feeling unnoticed.

Below, my very first posting on a discussion board.

Personal Branding. What is it? How does it apply to me?

These are the exact questions that have been haunting me since the GFC. All the recruiters are talking about it, now it is not good enough just to have a good resume but now you need a Personal Brand! But how?

So off I headed to JobCamp, “Getting Australia Working”. JobCamp is the idea of Luke Harvey-Palmer, to inspire people to think differently when it comes to career and work.

The conference was fantastic with speakers including Iggy Pintado, author of “Connection Generation”, Laurel Papworth also known as SilkCharm and the most connected in AP, Stan Relihan.

So what does this all have to do with personal branding? I won my own personal branding campaign by The Face!

So how will The Face give someone in my line of work a personal brand? My job title isn’t the most exciting job title in the world, business analyst.

To see what The Face can do for my personal brand stay tuned, my campaign will begin on the 23rd May.

I was overwhelmed by the response. I received at least one comment online or offline from each group and more than 5 in some, some 50 responses. I had never posted anything on the internet before and did not know what to do with it all. Comments were all very heartening, with good advice, requiring deep thought, asking friends and knowing oneself. I had not thought about my personal brand other than the flurry at JobCAMP. I replied the best I could and very poorly at that, I know now.

There were 2 comments that stood out though. One person sent me a link to Gary Vaynerchuk, Building Personal Brand within the Social Media Landscape at the Web 2.0 Expo. First thing I thought was check out his last name out I am never going to forget that. I watch the video and was left in awe with his enthusiasm, he was so passionate about personal branding and building a business with a good brand. I do occasional go back to watch this video when I need some inspiration.

The other comment mentioned my headliner which was my first attempt at my personal brand. Hmmm, first attempt not very successful :-(   The person said the title appeared as if I was bragging that I was smarter than management as I could talk to everybody in the business about their business. This is not what I am like at all and actually had a chuckle when I read the comment. I can understand the numbers for you to make the right decisions for your business. Have to redo my headliner before the launch. I suppose without the rest of the personal branding, it didn’t work.

Last thing to do before the launch is My Personal Brand…

 

Next post in The Story -> My Personal Brand

 

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First Impressions

3 August, 2009 in The Story | No comments

Personal Branding, I know corporate branding, Coca-cola specialist in FMCG, IBM – corporate computer solutions, Disney – family entertainment. Colleen Chan – Business Analyst, brand? Hmmm….

I began with my story, the number of connections I had made and how many groups I had joined. Being a statistician the story was based on the number of 2nd and 3rd degree connections, the locations and the industries. I was pretty proud of my networking efforts for somebody who had never networked before with my 60, 1st degree connections.

One day while I was surfing my network I found Barrack Obama’s profile then realised he was 3rd degrees away from me. I thought that was pretty exciting so I include this in my story. My exhilaration was let down at the conference when I heard that Barrack has many, many, many 1st degree connections so is not that tough to achieve but now I am only 2nd degrees away.

During this time my mother was rushed to the emergency rooms so no time to write. I start thinking about why I should win the prize. The campaign ad was let The Face sex-up your brand. Sex-up a business analyst, how are they going to achieve that. Business analysts are known as one of the most boring people, they look at their spreadsheets all day. Make me sexy, right.

I had found a role in LinkedIn jobs but could not apply as it was not feasible. I had all the experience and knowledge but believed my profile did not show my full potential to accomplish this role. How could a personal brand help me reach my goal? I just could not understand how they could brand me, other than with a soldering iron and a logo on my forehead. I have more questions than answers while I was thinking about what to write. Though, I did remember that I would be posting discussions on all my group boards if I won the prize.

It was the day before JobCAMP. I had to pick up my nephew from school and take him to my parents place. Ok, I still have time to get back and finish my words. When we get there, the little one comes running out expecting his mother and there are tears. I pick him up and sit on the lounge. The older one points to the ground and says the little one has done a wee wee. I get up, look down at my jeans and there is a stream of wee going down my leg! Can’t leave now, I have to wait until my sister gets back. Mum has recovered but not to look after a crying child. Eventually I sent my story in late that night. I mean, who works 9 to 5, I certainly hadn’t for many years.

JobCAMP, camping in a tent means casual and it does say casual but I was going to be networking, so smart casual. Smart casual is too hard so a suit, much easier.

I’m ready for JobCAMP. The only thing was to make sure I get there on time. Registration time was at 7am for 7.30am start. That means my alarm has to go off at 5am! I am just not a morning person at all and I have been unemployed so there is no rush in the mornings. Just hope that alarm screams at me in the morning.

 

Next post in The Story -> JobCamp

 

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Being Proactive

27 July, 2009 in The Story | No comments

I had been in LinkedIn for about a month and was getting very disheartened by it all. I had dug into the deep, dark recesses of my brain to remember names from the past. Oh, I remember that person, they were really nice. What was their last name? How do I spell it? I had maxed out my connections at 60.

My career consultant suggests I start being active in my discussion groups. Discussion groups? That means I have to write, I’m a numbers person, I don’t write. I couldn’t even do my own resume and that is about me. How was I going to participate in discussion groups? So I start scouring my groups for a topic I could write about. I search and search, I find topics from statistics, IT processes to personal development and so many acronyms but nothing that I could write about. I know I was just avoiding the writing.

I finally find a topic I could understand ‘Non – IT Projects’. I am a non-IT BA so I’ll put up a comment. I started my comment by saying this was the first ever comment I had posted on a discussion board, I think I was doing the ‘please be kind’. I did not answer the question, I answered the question relating to my previous role which was not project driven. Over excitement about the topic.

Great, the first comment I post has made me look silly! Oh well, its all out there in ether land and nobody has said I didn’t answer the question. Phew! Then somebody answers my comment privately, they actually took notice of what I had to say and had sent me an invitation to join their network! Wow, my first outside network connection. We continued the discussion offline and agreed that we agreed.

I recently wrote to this connection asking why they had sent me the invitation even though I had not answered the question. The reasoning was my “jump in and splash approach” in a “normative behaviour surrounding it”. The approach was similar to themselves, whom they hadn’t thought about for 20 years. They had also told me they had been following along (the campaign) as a lurker. Every connect can bring a smile to your face whether just as a connection or in general conversation.

Elbow on table, head on hand, I scour some more. There in the corner advertising box is a conference ‘JobCamp – Getting Australia Working’, Win Personal Branding Campaign. Let’s look at the speakers, the only speaker I knew was Iggy Pintado, author of the Connection Generation, we had more than 10 shared connections, through colleagues in my previous role but we did not know each other. Conferences, expensive, price $495 but due to the Global Financial Crisis nominal contribution. Ok, this sounds good, This will be a good chance to meet with a shared connection, allow me to network with more people and be able to create my own discussion for my groups if I can win the prize.

I have registered for the conference, now I have to put something together to try and win the prize. Personal branding, I had been hearing about it since I had been out of work but what was it and what could I say to win the prize? I had to write again! What was I going to write about!!??

 

Next post in The Story -> First Impressions

 

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The Story Begins

15 July, 2009 in The Story | 8 comments

I was enjoying my job at Lenovo the work was complex and I could use my modelling skills in Excel. I knew my time was coming up as the hyperion system was going online in the following quarter. I was sent over to Malaysia for 3 weeks, the guys over there were really nice I was able to train them and also enjoy the shopping as well. :-) Though I was sick for the whole 3 weeks and could not enjoy the food as much as I would have liked to :-( .

When I came back, it was nice to have a break. I had been working 60 – 70 hours a week trying to get these models out and was happy to let my brain have a rest and had not had a holiday in a long time. I don’t usually take notice of what is really happening in the economy, all I knew was we were having a mining boom and China would keep the Australian economy buoyant.

Then the GFC. I started looking for work but by that stage the market had already decided to shut down. Summer came along, nothing happens in the summer, everybody is on holidays and the feedback from recruiters now is that it was one of the quietest summer’s they have ever seen. My resume was being presented to prospective employees but that is as far as it got.

I received a break when I got through to the interview stage with a Telco company. I got excellent feedback from my recruiter, Louise Pope, and from the interviewees but realised at the end of the interview that I was not going to be offered the job. The line was “we used the agent as only a backup as we have done our own advertising internally, you will hear if you get a second interview”. I knew then that was the end of that prospect.

My recruitrer ask how all other prospects had gone so I told her my story, she told me that I should be working and it was because my resume was not “cutting it“ when it got to the managers stage. So she introduced me to a career consultant, Kim Seeling Smith, who had already seen my resume due to previous applications to the agency and her response was that my resume was “ok”. She re-did my resume and introduced me to LinkedIn, which was at the end of March.

I had never social networked before, I did not see not see the benefits of joining any social network of any sort. I am a very private person and did not want to loose my privacy into the public domain. I had not even joined Facebook even at the request of many friends. Joining LinkedIn would mean I would have to tell everybody what I did for a crust. My friends at work did not know what I did or even my education. I am not one to brag. :roll:

So I join LinkedIn. I only put a summary of my role at Lenovo and I include all my other jobs. I start inviting people who I thought knew my work and me, I was omitting people who knew me, those who knew my work and those who had been at the end of many conference calls. I invited my Mr.P and Mr.VP but then withdrew the invitations as I had not met them in person eventhough I had received many emails and pings directly from them, I don’t know what I was thinking. And even sent a couple of I don’t knows as LinkedIn said only to accept inviations from people you know.

One of my ex-managers from Lenovo did not want to join LinkedIn to give me a recommendation. I thought that only managers could give you recommendations. My career consultant came to the rescue, she told me I had to connect with everybody I knew and recommendations were only a bonus. I also had to load everything on my profile but I didn’t want everybody to know about me. She told me that everything was in the public domain anyway so I had nothing to fear. I was reluctant but agreed with her.

So off I went connecting to everybody I knew. I wrote back to my ex-Mr.P and Mr.VP apologising for withdrawal as I just didn’t know how it worked. I recieved sincere replies from both of them and invitations to their networks. I appreciated their genuine responses. And sent back invitations to the people I sent ”don’t knows” and they kindly accepted.  It is amazing to see the support network you have out there without knowing it. Just having the small network I had, made me feel that I was not alone in my quest to find my dream job.

The next thing was to get my recommendations. So I looked at how LinkedIn had setup the recommendations. I thought this is pretty easy, just choose from the list, maximum 50, and see what you get back. I received a great response from my ex-colleagues at Lenovo and the recommendations were so nice, I did not know my work had received the acknowledgment it had. :-)

My profile is complete, I have connected to as many people as I can without having their email addresses, have recommendations and have started joining groups to connect to more people with the same interest and backgrounds. But what now?

 

Next post in The Story ->  Being Proactive

 

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