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June 13, 2007
Help Employers See the Real You Through Blogging
"We were forced to expand out of our comfort zone,"
writes John Lewis, one of the charter members of
eSight's eLearning Center and a "graduate" of eSight's
"Online Networking as a Job Search Tool" course.
"I like being challenged as a writer," he continues.
"And, the eLearning course certainly prompted me to be
more introspective and creative in communicating those
thoughts. Since an online voice is delivered via the
written word, I feel more confident and much better
prepared to participate in blogs or related venues."
John has begun to reach out. He's joined the
discussion on the One Louder blog facilitated by Heather Hamilton, a Microsoft employee. He teamed up with his classmate, Shanti, to discuss what is working best for them on a couple of blogs about marketing themselves online as job seekers
He is in the midst of a career transition and is
working on an online portfolio, which will soon be
featured in Job Seeker's Network, an eSight venue.
Blogging evangelist Andy Wibbels says writing on a
personal blog from a sense of hope or dissatisfaction
gets you fully engaged as a warm, authentic personality
-- a smart way to market yourself as a job candidate,
and I can think of no better examples of that kind
blogging than that shown by John, Shanti, Alicia and
others who have completed the eSight course.
Andy, who has his own blog and is author of "Blogwild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging," was the guest
expert on a Reach Branding Club teleseminar June 6.
"Blogs," Andy writes, "allow you to stop hiding behind
a stilted/stifled brand and allow you to show up fully
engaged with a warmer, more authentic personality."
To me, helping decision makers get to know the real
you is the key to effectively marketing yourself as a
job seeker or entrepreneur.
See my recap of the teleseminar with Andy.
Writing that recap lead me to this week's discussion question
on this forum.
How has being active online helped you achieve
a personal or career goal?
Add your comments to this posting
Posted by Jim at June 13, 2007 09:47 AM
Comments
Hello everyone! I suppose that the most significant benefits from an on line presence, for me, thus far, has been the response to my story on AFB’s Career Connect. Although this article did not generate direct leads to uncovering employment possibilities, I received a couple of reactions to my story which resulted in my being able to help another career connect mentee and most recently , representatives from Disability Biz, (The Seed Business Network), who discovered my contact info, is presently assisting me in the possible set-up of an on-line art reproduction business. www.disabilitybiz.org In addition, I am looking forward to presenting myself in an ePortfolio in the on line environment as well as my traditional job search methods. I believe, my ePortfolio is going to be a tremendous enhancement to my more traditional, chronological resume. JD Lewis
Posted by: John D. Lewis at June 17, 2007 01:13 PM
I've been recently looking for a job and I have been turned down over and over again. Before I became disabled it was never this hard, so I know it's my disability status. I don't appear disabled so when I apply their usually is a lot of excitement and they explain..."oh, we really need people, we need people ready to work now. Then they see my application or resume and notice that I have not worked for a long period of time. I then explain that I am disabled. I never get called back and when I call, I am told the position has been filled. My only alternative is to lie about my disability but that is dangerous for me. I saw a blog about if a disabled person were to get hired in the union by mr. well intentioned employer and then the disabled emplyoyee proves not to be a permenant employee. Then if that disabled employee gets promoted it might be to much pressure for them and cause problems and they can become confused. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! PLEASE SAY YOUR JOKING! YOU ARE NOT THAT IGNORANT!That, first of all can happen to anyone, not just the disabled are vulnerable to pressure. Able people are just as unpredictible. You can not predict who is going to stay on the job or not stay on the job by somebodies abilily or disability. First of all disabled people, who have been for a while have a much more mature way of looking at things. We have patience, we think a lot more because we are given more time to, thanks to people like yourself who pre judge people like myself. It's funny how people think nothing is ever going to happen to them. You think you will always have your sight, you will always have your arms and legs, your heart, kidneys or even your mind...not true. Life is fragile, I learned that when I was 19... the day I became disabled. Disability can happen to anyone at any time...no one is exempt. We haven't lost ourselves, we lost some ability, but because we know ourselves we strive and you would too.
Posted by: Kesia at August 20, 2007 07:00 PM