Women have a great deal of power and are constantly performing incredible feats that deserve recognition. If you want to learn from spectacular entrepreneurs and business women we hope you will join the chats.
Leading up to the Women’s Leadership Forum, The Ad Club is hosting a weekly Twitter chat series aimed to:
Inspire and connect women interested in business, marketing, advertising, and revolutionary ideas.
The premise of these chats will be to discuss trends around women in the workplace, with each night focusing on a different sub-theme.
(1) Women Graduating From College
(2) Women Entrepreneurs
(3) Women Re-entering the Workplace
(4) Women Seeking Career Culminating Job
5 Ways to Own Your Job Search Coming out of College
1. How can a student use social media to play a role in their job search and what should they include in their social resume?
- Brand Yourself: Follow topics that interest you and start the conversation with recruiters in the space that you want to join.
- Social Media, especially Twitter: Use Twitter to engage with people that you want to meet. Start using your blog to engage with influencers in the space you want to work in.
- Read, and read a lot about your industry. Be up to date.
- Have an online personality: Don’t just tweet about mainstream articles and sources. Find your voice online.
- Introduce yourself to people. People are more willing to meet with you than you think.
- What social media outlets do the people who work at the company that you want to work at hang out on?
- Be available: Take on projects that will give you experience towards the job/company that you want to work at.
- Find a company where you believe strongly in the mission they are trying to accomplish.
2. How can women graduating college create an online brand for themselves to be more employable?
- Start while in college by creating a blog that concentrates on the content that applies to the industry you want to work in.
- Personal URL is a must or at least a URL that has meaning to what you are writing about.
- Own your online persona and stand by it. It should be in line with your real personality…
- ACT: The only way to get noticed online and offline is if you have something to show for it. Start doing, start doing now.
- Create a personal landing page.
- Clean up your FaceBook. Avoid a negative online personality with un-needed college photos. (Personally- I am not positive on this one, I think your photos give you personality.)
- Offer solutions in your posts to current topics people are discussing.
3. What is the best destination (online or offline) for women graduating college to search for relevant job openings?
- Start by checking out your college career site.
- Start writing ASAP- either for your own blog, another blog that you find interesting or for a news source that will give you relevant exposure.
- Gain believers by believing in yourself. Confidence is an unspoken secret to success.
- Find mentors: People who believe in you are are your best sales people.
- Instead of focusing in on websites to find jobs, focus in on figuring out what types of companies you would want to work at. Go direct to the source.
- Announce your job search to your world. From there, your job search will spread to others. Get your network spreading your greatness for you.
- If you fit in well with a company, don’t worry about the job descriptions. Create your own.
- Get involved with organizations in your area that promote and encourage what you care about. EX) DartBoston, Social Boston Sports Club, The AD Club
4. How can women graduating from college approach a contact for a job referral?
- Find people who are see something in you that you can learn from. People are interested in helping you, you just have to find the right ones.
- Ask your network for recommendations. Your Professors, employers, friends, etc know you best.
- Intern so that you can get your referral base growing. If you have interned in the past, reach out to those companies because they already have vested interest in you.
- Have a 140 character resume ready!
5. When deciding if you’d “fit” in an organization, what are the best signs to look for in gauging a company’s culture?
- Find people within the company that you want to work at that can be your supporters. Go in and meet with them to see what the culture is like. Are you a fit?
- Walk through the office after the interview without the recruiter.
- Do you feel comfortable around the potential team? Do you vibe well?
- Your job search is mutual. They need to want you and you need to want them. There needs to be a mutual success for now and for later.
- Figure out the DNA of the culture…Are the core values of the company in line with your core values?
What is the best career advice you have ever received?
- “Don’t Mistake Activity with Achievement” – John Wooden. Didn’t actually ‘receive’ it, but it has had the most influence.
- Never burn bridges. You never know who you’ll work with or for in the future (especially in Boston!)
- 3 rules to live by-#1 Sit at the Table #2 Make Your Partner a Real Partner #3 Don’t leave before You Leave.
- Keep in touch with the people you meet. Network, network, network. Follow your passion.
- Follow your heart. Startups are fueled by intention, which are moderated & motivated by beliefs.”
- Do what you love. Find what your passionate about & and theres no doubt you’ll excel.
What did we miss? Are these tips helpful for you as your start your job search either out of college or in general?
