Tag Archives: social networking

Semi-Official Tentative Announcement of Maybe Having a Job in a Couple Months

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A couple weeks ago, I heard my phone chirp.  Looking down, I saw a text message from a friend (Scripps ’07) asking me if I wanted her job when she left it this summer.  Considering the last calendar year—I just passed my one year jobsearchiversary—I responded immediately with “Yes, yes I DO want your job.”

Which is how, after a five-month dry spell, I was up an hour and a half early at 5:30 to make sure I had enough time to get ready before catching the first of three buses to my interview at the company where my friend works. Continue reading →

Personal branding: it’s not just for athletes.

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Companies are no longer only perusing through resumes, some are after more – they want to see the person beyond the carefully formulated cover letter and resume.  How do they find that person?  According to Dan Schwabel, a leading personal branding expert and creator of StudentBranding.com, 45% of companies conduct background checks on social networks.  Schwabel argues that a person brand can sometimes make or break an opportunity with a potential employer.

You are probably asking yourself, “A personal brand?  Why would I want that?”  Well, clearly it seems to work pretty well for celebrities and star athletes.  Sure athletes have superb physical skills on their side, but without branding, they are just like everyone else.  By capitalizing on talents, athletes, with the help of marketing experts, build a name and a reputation for themselves. Continue reading →

My LinkedIn Makeover

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After deciding that LinkedIn would be the best way to brand myself, I knew I had some research and thinking to do.

While I am nowhere near becoming a lawyer, I try to keep up with the Lawyerist Blog, which is the “lawyering survival guide.”  One of their career posts is dedicated to how law students should use LinkedIn.  I figured I would get a head start, and give my LinkedIn profile a makeover.

Lawyerist suggests following the five B’s to mastering LinkedIn: the Basics; Beefing up your profile; Building your network; Branding yourself; and Best practices for job searching.  The five B’s were a lot to absorb in one sitting, so I only focused on the basics of LinkedIn.

After reading the five B’s, I looked over my profile and pinpointed all of the areas that could use a little bit of love.  It is important here to be critical, examine the profile from the lens of a recruiter, and even ask a friend for some feedback.

I noticed the following flaws with my profile:

Professional Headline:

My “professional ‘headline’” was rather bland: Student at Scripps College.  Really?  Was I sleep deprived when I wrote that?  I must have not realized people could get that impression from my “Education” section.  I transformed my “headline” to something short and sweet, communicating a tiny piece of my interests and me.

Summary:

What summary?  I had none.  How am I supposed to brand myself when I do not even give people a summary of who I am?  For this section, I wrote about the kind of person I am, what I am currently doing, and what I would like to do in the future.

Continue reading →