One of my Loved Ones was laid off recently, and now tells me he’s bored.
NO WAY!
NO HOW!
NO EXCUSE!
Not in Today’s World where so much is at our fingertips.
Just DO IT is the Common Mantra
Suggestion One: Do NOT just “fill empty spaces” — i.e., don’t DO, just to DO.
Suggestion Two: Give yourself a goal: Use your computer to become an Expert.
Suggestion Three: Research your industry to discover challenges/issues/problems that you can solve — or learn to solve.
Suggestion Three and a half: Join and build strong profiles on popular social media sites including, but not limited to, today’s Top Three: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (so that you can become a more effective researcher).
- Ask questions about your industry and your interests on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.
- Build relationships with people who answer your questions.
- Look on LinkedIn and Ning for groups of people with similar backgrounds, and then join the conversation.
- Build relationships and look for opportunities where you can help others.
- Check out the websites of prospective employers; then look them up on LinkedIn to find more information that you won’t find on their websites — especially LinkedIn members who now work for the company and those who have left.
Suggestion Four: Think positive; use your brain and good intentions to become productive, happy, and valuable to yourself and others.
PS Check out these two previous posts: Updating your LinkedIn profile and Twitter 101 lessons
Your turn: What advice can you offer my bored Loved One?
Shari, you have offered up some great advice here. With the free flow of information on the internet it is easy to educate yourself in certain topics, but it can be really hard to stay on track and master subjects. I was unemployed for about six months and taught myself the basics of internet marketing – I showed that i had a lot of drive and that was just what my current employer was looking for at the time.
Francisco, my brother Chuck has a similar story. Good luck to you :-)))
These are some great tips for the ppl who are laid off and unemployed….I think ppl should go to social media sites and look for jobs.
I know first hand of being laid off,I was laid off june of 07, and now trying to re-enter from another angle in a new trade. and refreshing my education at the same time.
Ken, good luck to ALL of us. I’m confident about things turning around in a big way soon.
“-)
Shari
You should hand over your course syllabus for our Public Relations class, and your loved one will have plenty of things to do.
I feel that people do not want to dive into social media because it can easily become overwhelming and make people confused, but the one thing that I learned from you, Shari, is that being confused is OK.
Using LinkedIn has made me very aware of my surroundings and also gotten me a couple of job offers. Just learning a couple of new things a week can really set you apart from the rest of the competition.
Great advice, Jeannette . . . both for my Loved One AND for people who want to learn Social Media. Step by step is the best way! You’ll have to tell me more about the job offers. Thanks for checking in.
🙂
I took your advice and now I’m on top of page 1, on LinkedIn’s Health Section and Career and Education Section. Feeling more credible and confident, allowed me the motivation to build my connections from 37 to 260 in one month. Thanks Shari
Great Going, Chuck!
Maybe you’d like to write a Guest Post and discuss your Adventures and Lessons along your journey to success on LinkedIn.
🙂
I’m certain you should share some valuable insights.
You have some great ideas here, Shari. I sometimes tell job hunters to check out JobMob – http://jobmob.co.il/
But many times when I tell people to try social media for job hunting or business growing, I get silence. Maybe they don’t believe it will help? Maybe they are scared to learn something new? There’s a lot of emotions involved.
Hi Leora,
This post was “easy” in that I was DIRECTLY talking to my “Loved One” who will remain anonymous
🙂
AND
I was talking about my Passiion, i.e., Social Media . . .
an Unbeatable Combination for many things — Social Media and . . .
Actually, I network with many new friends here in Marin County who meet regularly because they are all looking for professional positions, and several of my posts are derived from the Career Moves using social Media, e.g., the Networking Post and the one with advice from Marty Nemo “When Fear of Failure = Laziness”: http://sharisax.com/2009/08/18/the-life-well-led-career-and-living-advice-from-marty-nemko/
The Internet has “cures” for a whole host of challenges.
🙂
Thanks for your additional site to check out. I’m FWD-ing to my Loved One.
🙂