Monday, January 31, 2011

How I found a Job using Social Media









Over the past year and a half, I have been actively involved on several social media platforms. Via social media, I have had the opportunity to receive the kind of interactive education people dream of in both K-12 and in higher education. At every click, I found experts from every field you could imagine. For example, if I have a tech question, I know Mary Beth will have the answer. If it's about social media, my go-to person is Shelly Terrell. And, if it's about career and life developments, Diana and Becky are rising stars.

What started out as a hobby quickly became a daily fix for me. What I did went beyond simply networking. I've meet people who inspired me, challenged me, empowered me, and wouldn't let me say no to my own dreams. Social media literally changed my life.

On Twitter, I met two of the most important people who would set my life in a new direction. Workplace consultant, J.T. O'Donnell offered me the opportunity to intern with the offshoot of her company - CAREEREALSMcampus.com. As the Campus Outreach Coordinator, I was charged with reaching out to college and university career centers/counselors to tell them about the great work being done inside the network as well as to get them signed up for a webinar, led by J.T. herself, about the campus. That experience not only earned me a contact with someone with real juice, it was then I knew that I had a future in the online world.

2 months into my internship, I got a call from Ingrid Stabb, co-author of The Career Within You. She told me that she was starting a business on the side and wanted me to be a part of it. As she explained her vision for me and what I'd be doing, my excitement for the position and my responsibilities grew and grew. And, on January 15, 2011, I officially became the Chief Social Strategist for StrengthsFactors - a career development resource company, specializing in the 9 Enneagram types.

5 comments:

  1. Congrats! I wish you all the best with your job.

    I also like the links in your post - gives me some new people to follow :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eva,

    Thanks. I appreciate the well wishes. Those are some amazing folks.

    Take care,

    Will

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on the successes! Social media is a very powerful tool that I truly underestimated before.

    Thank you for the link! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Diana,

    Thanks. You are welcome. It took me a very long time to get on Facebook and an even longer time to get on Twitter. And, I had no idea about the existence of nings. I've definitely learned a lot about social media.

    Will

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations, this is great news!

    ReplyDelete