Olympic Fever

The Olympics begin on the 27th... this Friday... We, the world, can see first hand the truth of the statement--- you are the power of your dreams-- by all those who are participating and who have worked so hard to get there. Let us experience the Olympic spirt they will personify and exercise it in our daily personal and professional lives. Let the Games begin!

New sites for job and career planning

Here below are some new sites to check out for your career plan and job search:


1-Frasers.com- is an interesting site because it is a directory of Canadian manufacturing companies- a good one for research.


2- You can also take an inside look at companies and jobs through glassdoor.com. This site has tips for interviews and other great material for job search and the like.

3-Branchout.com is a different kind of site for career networking.

Good luck!

'Social Media now drives recruitment strategies for companies

More and more companies are using social media to win the war for recruiting the best talent.


The big four are: LinkedIn, Facebook ( career page), Twitter, and YouTube.

Google + though will eventually eclipse LinkedIn for finding the best talent.

Remember when you post anything on these sites that it can be viewed by current and future employers so always practice due diligence.

Canadian Discovery Portal-- for your research

www.canadiana.org is great new search engine that searches 60 million pages of info from library, museum, and archives collections from Canada.

Use it to get data for your career and employment research.

Tips on maintaining your professional profile

To maintain your professional profile, remember to continually update your status on LinkedIn, your business profile on Facebook and Plaxo. Answer questions when you can and try to connect with those you can mentor or can mentor you.

Also, develop and maintain a professional blog at blogspot.com and wordpress.com

Good luck..

How to use LinkedIn strategically for your career

Here below is a great article on how to leverage LinkedIn for career purposes.


http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/how-to-use-linkedin-strategically/2734?tag=nl.e124

Good Luck.

Technology, Social Media and Career Management

1-LinkedIn has updated its Professional Company Follow Program-- great company research tool and one for business trend watching.

http://jobsearch.about.com/b/2010/09/29/linkedin-company-follow.htm?nl=1

2- This article below is about the new career app for Facebook

http://blojavascript:void(0)gs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=2404&tag=nl.e124

Listening in Relationship Building

There is an expression that says: “ Our creator gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason” This adage illustrates the significance of listening in human relationships, and particularly for career success.

Dale Carnegie from his book “ The Leader in You: How to Win Friends, Influence People and Succeed in a Changing World” provides these pearls of wisdom based on the power of listening in human relationship building. ( p. 92-93)

1- Listening is still the best way to learn.
2- People respond to those who listen to them
3- Listen patiently with an open mind.
4- Be sincere about it
5- Encourage people when you are listening to express their ideas fully.

And never forget this one he wrote”“ Nobody is more persuasive than a good listener.” Dale Carnegie…

Social networking and people search engine service

I'm taking a break from "going green" for awhile and revisiting " social networking" once again.

Great social people search engine service, Spokeo, like Pipl , CVGadget, Wink and PeekYou can help you locate info on others for networking purposes and vital business relationship building … Spokeo now has a premium service, which you have to pay for that provides you with more detailed info.

Such search engines are new people-tracking utilities that can help you build a detailed dossier about yourself online, and about companies/ organizations and people you would like to work for.

Developing a career plan

The first step/strategy in developing a career plan is to conduct your research before you start , such as information interviews , researching journals, trade magazines, and occupational websites, then integrating this research with an outline of your vision, ethics, beliefs, values, and interests. After this, comes fitting the research in with the market research ( labour market research ) that targets the area(s) that you wish to pursue in your career.

Other strategies could include the following:

1. Develop your vital network ( alumnae, colleagues, previous coworkers, professional associations members, the Rotary Club, cultural and religious organizations, etc..) and expand it to include persons outside your field . These people will in time become a critical part of your career plan.

2. Design a tentative career action plan after a review of your SWOT- Strengths; Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats as they do in business. Get feedback from friends, family, colleagues, people in your field ( those you can trust and who you hold in high esteem) so you have a balanced, realistic viewpoint .

The career plan that evolves from these steps becomes in actuality part of your career operations manual. A Career Plan Operations Manual is defined as a logical and systematic method of following up on your ideas and directs you to fulfill your vision.


The manual -essentially the breakdown of this career plan- is created with the help of a Career Coach. For example, you can use a software program, i.e. MS Access, MS Outlook, and contact management software to develop forms and checklists that will become the core ingredients for attaining and evaluating your goals. These software programs can help you streamline your plan that is based on your original vision.


I will provide more structure for this career operations manual in the coming weeks.