Jobs… no doubt with the economy in a little bit of turmoil the topic of careers and possibly a career change or maybe job security is on the minds of many.
I’ve noticed over the years that quite often, the end of the year is very active with job postings and new career opportunities. If there’s one time of the year you should be watching the job boards I say it’s the coming holiday season and in particular the last week of the year and the start of the new year period. Already, our own GISuser career center has been quite active (honestly, I’m unsure why more companies don’t take advantage of this resource, heck, I’ll even offer free posting in it – normally its a mere $29 to post – all an Org needs to do is ask and we’ll waive the fee for you). So, if you’re serious about shopping yourself, I suggest you consider the following tasks to begin:
- update/clean up your social media profiles as many employers will check you out – Use a a nice, respectable photo and be professional
- polish up your LinkedIn profile and browse LinkedIn for valuable leads – Industry specific LinkedIn groups, like our own GISuser Group are jam packed with opportunity! Organizing your LinkedIn connection into groups can be very useful also
- Put the word out on Twitter that you’re searching (unless you don’t want the boss to know) and post periodic updates to remind people (example, "had a great interview today, wish me luck")
- Consider archiving some of your best accomplishments and works in a slideshare and/or a video/photo presentation
- Consolidate all of your social networks using an online business card-like service like About.me (See my own About.me profile as an example)
- If you’re an expert in a area or 2 work on establishing yourself as an “expert” by helping and responding to people in your industry via LinkedIn, G+ and Twitter
- Network… get out there and present at a devMeetup, Ignite event, or even at a noon hour session in your office
- If you’re currently employed don’t conduct your search and application submissions on company time
- Update your skills with free online webinars, these are a valuable starting point and take place almost daily – many are archived. Consider free courses, for example, Stanford actually offers free web training and online classes in technology.
- Ask for recommendations, in writing and online – 20 year old references may not always cut it, take advantage of your social network
- Bonus Tip, don’t use corporate contact information like your employee email or phone number, rather, always use a gmail email address (or similar) and your cell phone as a contact – no cell? Check out Google Voice as a viable alternative
For more tips see also this article, How to land that entry level GIS job
For a little fun and useful reading, I suggest you also check out the e-book, Psychotic Resumes by Nick Armstrong – a useful read!
A handy read, How to Use Social Media in your Job Search
A few other suggested Geo career Resources :
See also your local/regional industry orgs like GITA, URISA, and software-specific LUGS
A few somewhat related articles and news items: