WebRev Blog

As part of a project I'm currently working on, I'm gathering resources for employees who are dealing with a corporate merger, and uncertain about their careers in the near future.  Here at WebRev, we've been providing such resources for the last couple of years, through our jobs and education feeds.

A few of the resources below are gleaned from those feeds, but most are specific to those working in Corporate America, so if you know anyone who might find these useful, we hope you'll share them.  Employees who are uncertain about the future of their corporate careers may be facing lateral moves or demotions within their own companies (or, hopefully, promotions).  Some older employees may be considering early retirement. Some may be wondering if they will be laid off, or whether they should find a new job before they're forced to do so. 

For those planning to remain in the workforce, updating resumes and job skills are a good idea, so I've included several resources for that in the list below. Those planning to retire also need to make some preparations, and I've included a few resources for beginning that type of transition.

Free Career Planning Tools

OK Career Planner

Quintessential Careers

Careers.org

Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

US Office of Personnel Management

Career Path

Tulsa Community College Career Assessment

Resume.Monster.com (Free and Paid services)

Careerealism (Because Every Job is Temporary)

Washington State Workforce job interview preparation presentation (Scroll through using the menu at the bottom)

Answers.USA.gov Job Loss Assistance Programs

Free Online Education Resources

MIT Open Courseware

Yale Open Courseware

Education Portal (Also the new Education Portal Academy)

U.About.com

 Learn That

Education Online for Computers

GCF LearnFree

Free Retirement Information

Money-Zine Early Retirement Calculator

Money Central: 6 Keys to a Great Early Retirement

Prudential: Retirement Planning

Fidelity: Retirement Planning

 Do you have other online professional development resources you would like to share?

We don't normally to eulogies here on WebRev, but when someone as influential in our world of technology passes away, it's time to pause for a moment to respect his memory and celebrate his life.  Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, and innovator of the world of the personal computer as we now now it died this week after a long battle with cancer.

He explained his philosophy of life at a graduation address at Stanford (video above) a few years ago, and its definitely worth a listen.  All over the web, techies are paying tribute to Steve Jobs.  Most of us tend to lean either "PC" (Microsoft)  or "Mac" (Apple).  I headed down the "PC" road several years ago when I started taking online classes and the software we were using would not work on a Mac, but there is no denying that the Apple computers lead the way for the personal computers we all use today.  As Mr. Jobs explains in the video, Apple is probably the even reason we all have so many beautiful fonts to use now! :-)

Here are some of my favorite tributes to Steve Jobs on the web this week.

Deviant Art is calling for submissions to honor Mr. Jobs, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the artists come up with. Twitter is using the hashtag #iSad to post tributes to the iPad, iPhone, and iTunes creator. Dr. Richard J. Bishirjian, president of Yorktown University wrote a touching "Thanks" to Steve Jobs just before he died, right after he retired.

Of course, Apple has an official tribute page with contact information for those wanting to send condolences to Steve's family and friends.  Many people are leaving rememberances and condolenses on Mr. Jobs' Facebook page.  Finally, Wired has done an excellent compilation of some of the tributes that were published within the first 24-48 hours after the news of Mr. Jobs death hit the web - some great tributes there.

Naturally, where there is a lot of attention being directed to a topic or person, there will be those who seek to exploit that attention.  Websense is monitoring several hacking attempts and viruses being passed as email and news posts about Steve Jobs passing.   And finally, the Westboro Baptist Church (commonly thought of as a cult by mainstream Christianity) which commonly pickets funerals of U.S. Soldiers and famous people is making news this time by (ironically) tweeting their plans to picket the funeral of the Apple founder on...an iPhone.

Pay them no nevermind, Mr. Jobs.  We appreciate your amazing contribution to all of our lives, and you will be missed.

A company called Social Intelligence just gave you one more reason to beef up and clean up your online profile.  This a professional service that, ". is a fully compliant consumer reporting agency (CRA) with processes and operations designed and operated in adherence with federal, state, and local employment laws as well as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Providing a user friendly portal to employers, our infrastructure enables the scalability, security, and dependability that an organization requires in its business practices."

That's legal-eze for yes, they can do that.

I predict this is the way of the future for background checks, and will be standard along with criminal background checks and drug screening.  This type of service helps protect the employer (or prospective employer) from either inadvertent discrimination or the perception of discrimination based on factors that are currently illegal such as race, religion and gender. 

It protects the employee by...well, actually, it doesn't protect the employee.  The service is paid for by the employer (the prices aren't published, and are subject to negotiation), is run for the benefit of the employers who are looking for information to help them stay out of legal trouble while increasing the quality of their workforce.

This company searches up to seven years worth of social media presence, and will report anything that is normally considered inappropriate in the workforce - i.e., anything that could be considered disrespectful of other people based on race, religion, gender, etc..  The report will also include information about any illegal activities (even if written in jest), such as drug use or potential criminal activity. 

For more information about what the company can and will check and report, check out the FAQ page.  The crew at Gozmodo ran social media background checks on themselves using the service to see what would turn up.  You can check out their results here (language alert).  Also, Forbes and PCMag have more examples of the types of online activities that can reflect negatively on a job search.
 

In a tough job market, your ability to work your network is key to finding a job, and in today's world, that happens online.  In the past, the best site for job contacts was LinkedIn.com.

Have I ever mentioned that I find Linked-In(or is it LinkedIn? LinkedIN?) annoying.  For one thing, I'm never sure the proper way to spell it, and it doesn't "look" right no matter how you do.  For another, it's so complicated, and I find it counter-intuitive.  It requires you to put all of your contacts into categories that they really may or may not "fit" in.  For example, most of the people I've met over the years who are likely to help me find work are not people I've actually worked with. They are people I've met at conventions or online, and this type of connection is not even recognized on LinkedIn.  For another, you get to "know" people by socializing, and LinkedIn is not good for that - it's "all business," which for me ends up being "no business."

Apparently, I'm not the only one.  The folks at a new start-up, called "In the Door" figured out a workable solution.  It's a Facebook App that meshes your Facebook friends' employers with Indeed.com's job listings.  With just a few clicks, you can easily view a list of job openings at the companies where your Facebook friends work (i.e., where you already have connections). 

To try it out, sign in to Facebook, then go to InTheDoor.com, and follow the instructions.  Within a couple of minutes, you'll have a list of your friends and their employers sorted by location, as well as how many jobs are listed at each employer.  Clicking on the number of jobs gives you a list of job openings at that employer,  and clicking on each job opening gives you a brief description of the job with a link to the full listing Indeed.com (a job search engine that compiles listings from many online job sites). 

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

The feel-good story of the week is the one where a homeless man named Ted Williams, now known as the man with the Golden Radio Voice, managed to find himself a job in radio by holding a cardboard sign in the Columbus, OH area. 

A local reporter taped him, and put the tape on YouTube, and the video received millions of hits.  Soon the job offers started pouring in.  People liked the story.  While I do admire the man's creativity, and am happy for him, I can't help feeling sorry for all of the broadcasting students who have managed to stay off the drugs and alcohol, and who have been pounding the pavement to find work to pay off their student loans. 

What if they want to create viral videos of themselves to get a job?  They can try, but getting a video to go viral is often a matter of luck.  It might not be a bad idea, however, to consider the idea of including a video resume in your portfolio.  Sites like VideoResumes.us.com give you a place to host such videos, or you can use any video site, such as YouTube. 

OEDb has some great information on How to Create a Video Resume.  Once the video is online, a link can be included on your social networking profiles, and/or with any resume you send electronically by e-mail.

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

Well, friends, another glorious weekend is in sight.  Before we head off to enjoy the last of Spring, let's wrap up some loose ends from the last couple of weeks.

Facebook - The new champions of your privacy

 

(At least according to them...if you believe that, be sure to "like" the Facebook and Privacy Fan Page.)  We're still waiting for some indication that they understand it's wrong to impersonate users to suggest friends - until that happens, be sure to "Remove" any contacts you've imported to FB Friend Finder.  For background on this see Lesson Learned the Hard Way: Do NOT Upload your e-Mail Contacts to Facebook, and So, what's up with Facebook, anyway?

 

The Online Job Search

 

This week, we discussed  The Online Job Search.  Mashable also has a great post, 3 Ways to Ace Your Job Interview with Social Media.  Check it out.

 

Also, you will need to provide an e-mail address for any job application you submit online or electronically.  It's important that your e-mail address reflect you in a professional manner.  Cutsie nicknames are not ideal - it's better to use some version of your name, if at all possible.  The Oatmeal has some additional (mostly tongue-in-cheek) information about what your e-mail address says about you.  (Apologies to all AOL users.)  Click HERE  to read the list.

 

You can get PAID for doing that?!

 

Are you addicted to Facebook, or Twitter, or social networking in general?  Did you know you can now make a career out of it?  That's right. SimplyHired.com has a whole list of social networking jobs available right now.  Also see SocialNetworkingJobs.org, and Social Media Jobs on Ning.

 

You can also get paid to blog.

 

If you enjoy doing what it takes to get profiles and posts to the front page of the search engines ("Search Engine Optimization," or "SEO"), you can get paid to do that, too.  There are also jobs available in online profile management.

 

Keep in mind that with a few exceptions, this work is generally freelance, and part-time.

Have a good weekend!

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.