On Careers

How to Use Facebook to Get a Summer Job

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May 4, 2011 Comment (1)

With the summer season beginning soon (and summer jobs a goal for many college and high school students), it’s important to leverage every tool at your disposal to land an opportunity. Facebook gets a lot of bad press for causing people to lose their jobs. And it’s true: 70 percent of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed say they have rejected candidates based on information they found online. However, used professionally, Facebook can help more than hurt job seekers of any age.

In my book about social networking for job seekers, I wrote an entire chapter of tips about using Facebook to your advantage in a search for a summer job (or any job). Some highlights:

Tags:: careers

How to Turn a Summer Job into a Full-Time Gig

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By Tim Tyrell-Smith

May 3, 2011 Comment

One great way to line up a new, permanent job is to land a part-time version first. During the summer, while all of your friends are busy at the beach or mall, you can better position yourself for a successful career.

By hunkering down and working hard at a part-time summer job, you can accomplish a number of key objectives, including adding to your work experience, creating leads, and, of course, generating a little extra cash.

But how do you turn a great part-time summer job into a permanent one?

Here are eight terrific ways to stand out and build social credibility during a summer job:

Tags:: employment,; careers

How to Protect Yourself When You Inherit an Incompetent Staff

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By Andrew G. Rosen

May 3, 2011 Comment (2)

Staff members are often inherited. So what do you do when you’re a manager and your staff is comprised of unmotivated lifers who lack educational experience and basic skills? Relieving them of their duties is not an option. You must find creative ways to motivate them, and at the same time, protect yourself so their performance is not a reflection on you.

Here are several tips for dealing with “dead weight” in a politically correct world:

Log Everything

No one prides themselves on being a micromanager, but when it comes to working with dead weight—staffers who are an oppressive burden—it’s important to protect yourself at all times. Keep a running log of all staff interactions. From meeting minutes to attendance calendars, log every detail so that you have a job journal you can present to your boss to make a case for changes.

Tags:: careers

How Social Media Can Help or Harm Your Career

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By Alison Green

May 2, 2011 Comment (3)

Employers are increasingly paying attention to what their employees and prospective employees are doing on social media sites. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you’re doing online.

Using social media sites wisely can help your career in a number of ways:

Building your knowledge base. No matter what field you’re in, there almost surely are dozens of blogs and websites where people with an interest in your field gather to share information and ideas. If you’re a regular reader of these sites, you’ll be constantly learning, and you’ll probably be as aware of coming trends as well-known experts in your industry.