6 Mobile Apps for Your Job Hunt

by Heather Huhman

It seems like there’s an app for everything now, and job hunting is no different. With unemployment holding steady at 8.1%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job seekers are using any tool available to get ahead of the crowd. Plus, what’s easier than using your mobile device?
These days, you can use your phone to watch movies and set reminders — among a host of other pretty snazzy and sophisticated tasks. As Zooey Deschanel proved, the iPhone’s Siri can tell if you it’s raining — even looking out the window is a thing of the past. So why not utilize all that technology to get a leg up in the job arena? You certainly wouldn’t be the only one with this idea: 77% of job seekers have already jumped on the app bandwagon.
Here are some apps for job seekers looking to take their search on the go.

1. LunchMeet

LunchMeet is more than just a clever name to make you hungry — it’s also a great networking app.
The service connects to your LinkedIn account and uses geo-targeting to find industry-specific contacts who may be open to networking. Just connect through LunchMeet, grab lunch or coffee and discuss your industry or career opportunities.
If you’re looking to expand your business circle, this could be the app for you. It’s also a great way to find a mentor or discover a hidden job lead.

2. Interview Prep Questions for iPhone and Android

Are you freaking out because you have a big interview coming up? Turn on your phone and start practicing.
Interview Prep Questions has a name that really sums up the functionality of the app. It can be difficult to foresee those tough questions that pop up in interviews, so you can prepare for a wide variety of potential queries with this handy database. The app offers practice questions and will even suggest answers if you’re stumped. You can then take those answers and personalize them so they fit your unique qualifications and background.
Preparation is the name of the game when it comes to interviewing, and this app helps you prepare on the go.

3. SparkHire for iPhone

You’ve found the perfect job and you’ve gotten called up for an interview. Now you can put those car keys down and pick up your mobile device. SparkHire, a video resume, interviewing and job board site, has just launched an app version of their video interviewing platform.
Employers can present multiple text-based questions to job seekers who, in turn, respond with short video answers. These video answers can then be viewed by employers anywhere and anytime, which means you can show off your communication skills and personality without taking too much time out of your busy schedule. The app is perfect for passive job seekers who are currently employed, as they can easily interview during normal business hours without going AWOL for hours at a time.

Apps 4 - 6 and complete Mashable article


Heather R. Huhman is the founder and president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. You can connect with Heather and Come Recommended on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Find a Mentor and Why You Need One

By Lindsay Olson


One of the best ways to reinvigorate your work life, boost your job search, or help guide your career path is to work with a mentor. A mentor can help guide you through common problems and make recommendations on how to improve your job performance.

Talking to a mentor about your career can help you make better decisions about moving to a new job, taking a promotion or asking for a raise. Typically, you would work with someone with experience in your industry, as she would be best equipped to understand what it takes to succeed in your field. If you're starting out in the accounting field, you might find a mentor who runs an accounting practice. Finding someone who has had a career path similar to yours can help give you the direction and advice on how you can succeed.

Mentoring programs differ one to the next. Some are very formal and meet every week or so. Others are more organic. Maybe you exchange emails and have lunch once every few months. You get out of a mentoring program what you put in. Make it worth both your time and that of your mentor's.
How to Find a Mentor


Some companies have formal mentor programs, designed to help you achieve specific goals. If your company doesn't have such a program, create your own. At networking events, look for seasoned professionals who take an interest in you. Search LinkedIn for qualified professionals with similar interests, group affiliations, and career paths.

More info on finding a mentor and complete US News article

7 Keys to Landing Your Dream Job

By Matthew Setter


We all know it’s tough getting jobs these days. So here are seven tips that will help you nail your dream job:

1. Build a brand

When you’re applying for a job, you could be like so many others – BORING! You could have nothing interesting, innovative, novel or remarkable about you.
You could send in a CV in the same style, font, line-height, line-spacing as EVERYBODY ELSE. Now think for a second, what’s going to be remarkable and memorable about you? Answer: NOTHING!
Businesses spend hundreds, thousands, millions each year building a brand, so why don’t you? If you have no brand and aren’t sure where to start, ask yourself:

• Am I on LinkedIn?
• Do I have a personal website?
• Do I have personal business cards?
• Is my CV different?
• Does it have extra polish?
• Does it have sharp wording?
• Does it have professional color?
• Do I have a personal video introducing myself?

Tim Reid at the Small Business, Big Marketing Podcast gives a good introduction to this.

2. Turn up early

The surest way to not get the job is to be late or scrape in on time. If you can’t even turn up on time, then rightly or wrongly, this says a lot about you in the mind of the interviewer.
The sad thing is, a lot of very talented and capable people barely organize themselves and then wonder why they aren’t called back. Don’t be one of these people! Without wanting to flog a dead horse here:

• Know where you need to be
• Know who you are talking to
• Have contact details handy – email, linkedIn, phone, fax and website
• Check out the place on Google Maps so that it’s easier to find

But don’t be too early either. Being on time means being (no more than) 10 – 15 minutes early. That way you’re not hanging about and needing to be looked after, and you’re not cutting it so close that you’re filling out paperwork when you should be in the interview.

3. Preempt interview questions

When you interview for a role, it’s so important to articulate why you’re it, the bomb- shizzel, the top notch, top dog, the A1 with a bullet! So pre-empt questions that you might get asked and be prepared with answers that show why you’re the right person to hire.
Try what Greek businessman, Aristotle Onassis, used to do: he rehearsed in his mind (for hours if necessary), asking himself questions that would likely be asked and refining multiple answers until he nailed each and every one of them perfectly.
Don’t let yourself be surprised. Take the initiative and pre-empt!

4. Research the organization thoroughly

If you get the job, you’ll probably work there for 2+ years, 44 – 48 weeks a year, 5 days a week, 7 – 10 hours a day. So you should damn well know a TON about these people, what they do, who they are, when they kicked off, why they did so, what they’ve done recently, where they’re going and WHY!
This isn’t sucking up to the teacher and offering them an apple – this is YOUR career and your life. So take it seriously.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few helpful resources: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Companies House (or the local companies register), plus the company’s website and press releases. The list goes on and on.

Keys 5 -7 and complete BrazenCareerist Article

10 Things Your Interviewer Won't Tell You

By Alison Green | U.S.News & World Report LP


7. Fit really, really matters, so we think a lot about your personality. You might have all the qualifications an employer is looking for, but still not get hired because your working style would clash with the people with whom you'd be working. Remember, it's not just a question of whether you have the skills to do the job; it's also a question of fit for this particular position, with this particular boss, in this particular culture, and in this particular company.


2. We're judging how you're dressed and groomed. In most industries, a professional appearance still matters. You don't need to wear expensive clothes, but showing up in a casual outfit or clothes that don't fit properly, having unkempt hair, or inappropriately flashy makeup can harm your chances.



4. Little things count. Candidates often act as if only "official" contacts, like interviews and formal writing samples, count, but hiring managers are watching everything, including things like how quickly you respond to requests for writing samples and references, whether your email confirming the time of the interview is sloppily written, and how you treat the receptionist.


5. We might act like we don't mind you bad mouthing a former employer, but we do. We'll let you talk on once you start, but internally we're noting that you're willing to trash-talk people who have employed you in the past and are wondering if you'll do that to us too. What's more, we're wondering about the other side of the story--whether you're hard to get along with, or a troublemaker, or impossible to please.

Read complete article and all 10 things...

5 Top Company Perks That Attract Qualified Job Candidates

Best Employee Perks That Your Employees Want

The ultimate success of your business can hinge upon the quality of the candidates you recruit when hiring. Often, to get the best and brightest candidates to take positions within your business, you have to offer them something extra special. Some companies elect to offer these desirable and most qualified candidate salaries so high they can’t refuse. While this is an option, it isn’t always the best one. Instead of blowing your hiring budget by shelling out more cash than you should to secure those candidates, offer them other company and employee perks that will take less of a bite out of your budget.

• Tuition Reimbursement – Offering your staff the opportunity to better themselves on your dime can be quite enticing to many would-be job takers. Giving your workers the opportunity to enroll in a degree-granting online education program while working for you will likely make them feel that you care about them as more than just workers, but instead as people. This in turn can result in a sense of loyalty, which can be good for both the employee and the business.

• Flexible Scheduling – It can be difficult to balance work with the requirements of home life. By allowing your workers to largely set their own schedule, you can make this balancing act easier and likely attract workers. Though you may not be able to allow your staff complete liberty to come and go as they please, you can allow them the opportunity to set up four-day work weeks for themselves or let them pick their starting and stopping times. This employee workplace flexibility will likely pay off not only in improved employee morale, but also potentially in increased productivity as happy workers are often naturally more productive.

• Ample Vacation – Regardless of how much the workers who make up your team love their jobs, there will be times when they tire of the daily grind and require a break. By giving your workers more vacation time than the norm, you can attract high-quality workers to join your ranks. Whether its PTO, vacation time, or a handful of floating holidays, time off is an effective employee recruitment and retention tool.  If you elect to offer a large amount of vacation time, make this known when recruiting candidates so they can consider it among other deciding factors when determining whether or not to take the job you offer.

Perks 4-5 and Complete Article

Bouncing Back from Job Loss: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Job Hunters

by Margie Warrell

A friend recently shared with me how her husband fell into yearlong depression after he was laid off from his finance job during the global economic meltdown in late 2008. He’d worked hard all his life, thrived on the pressures and challenges of his work, and enjoyed the money he earned. Becoming unemployed for the first time in his life in his midforties was a huge kick in the gut, and one he didn’t cope with very well.

There’s no two ways about it: Losing your job is hard. Whether it has everything to do with your performance, or nothing at all, it’s still hard. However, if you look at job loss, like any setback from an enlarged perspective, you realize that success in life is measured far less by our opportunities than by how we respond to life’s setbacks and challenges.

The story of my friend’s husband one I’ve heard many times. The challenge people in that situation face is in how they handle not only the loss of their job, but the many emotions that it can arise. These range from a sense of humiliation, failure and vulnerability, to anxiety, resentment, and self-pity. Sure, losing your job can be a blow to your back pocket, but it’s often an even bigger blow to your ego and self worth.

Over the last few years millions of people have found themselves involuntarily out of work—too often through no fault of their own.  This year, many will again.   But whether the reason you lost your job has everything to do with your perceived performance, or absolutely nothing, it’s how you respond in the wake of it that will set you apart from others when it comes to finding a new job. When it comes to a successful job hunt, attitude is everything. A proactive and positive mindset will differentiate you from the masses, making all the difference in how “lucky” you get in an unlucky economy. It will even determine whether you one day look back on this time with some measure of gratitude for what you gained from it—whether it was the chance to re-evaluate your life, spend extra time with your family, teach your kids about budgeting, or to simply re-affirm what matters most.

Confucius said that our natures are alike (i.e. no one likes being sacked), it’s our habits are that separate us. Below are 7 habits to separate yourself from the pack, move your job application to the top of the pile, and land yourself not only back into a job, but perhaps an even better one than before.

1/Stay future-focused.

It’s easy to get stuck in the past and what shoulda-woulda-coulda happened, but didn’t. Doing so only perpetuates destructive emotions that fuel anger, self-pity and powerlessness. Focus on the future, and on what you need to do to set yourself up as well as possible on the job front,in how you are budgeting your money, and in your relationship with those who can help you find a new job. What you focus on expands, so focus on what you want, not on what you don’t.

2/ Don’t let your job status you.

Sure, losing your job is a very personal experience, but don’t take it too personally. Who you are is not what you do. Never was. Never will be. Research by psychologist Marty Seligman found that the biggest determinant between those who succeed after setbacks of any kind is how they interpret them. People who interpret losing their job as a sign of personal inadequacy or failure are less likely to ‘get back on the horse’ in their job hunt than those who interpret it as an unfortunate circumstance that provided a valuable opportunity to grow in self-awareness, re-evaluate priorities and build resilience. You get to define who you are, not your job or a company’s decision whether or not to employ you. Don’t take it as a personal rejection against you. It may well be due to economic forces far beyond your control that you found yourself out of a job. Potential employers will be more attracted to people who have proven their ability to stay positive and confident despite a setback/job loss.

3/ Prioritize self-care.

When you’ve lost your job it is all too easy plant yourself on the couch, remote in one hand, beer or bag of chips in the other, and wallow in self-pity. Many do! But mental and emotional resilience requires physical resilience. So be intentional about taking care of YOU and doing whatever it takes to feel strong and fit. (After all, you now have no excuse that you don’t have time for exercise!) Studies have found that exercise increases stress resilience – it produces neurons that are less responsive to stress hormones. Get outdoors, go for a run, do some gardening, or just do something that lifts your spirits – whether building your kids a cubby house or taking your dog to the beach – and helps to shift the negative emotions that have the potential to keep you from being proactive in your job hunt.

Tips 4-7 and Complete Forbes Article

100 Most Ridiculous Job Interview Questions Ever

Have you ever sat in an interview and wondered why somebody was asking you a slightly left field question?  Although you probably don’t realise it, there may well be a good reason why you are being asked something that seems completely irrelevant at the time.

Two tips for spotting trick interview questions Job interviews.

All too often some questions can feel like an exercise in catching you out.  Fortunately it is possible to prepare so that you’re ready to respond and give as positive a response as you can to those trick interview questions. Here’s how to spot them:

1. If it involves imagining yourself as something (e.g. What biscuit would you be if you were a biscuit?) – These questions may sound daft, but they are aimed at learning something about how you see yourself.  So instead of giving the temptingly easy silly answer (“Squashed fly (Garibaldi) biscuit because I feel downtrodden most of the time”) focus on something that will communicate a positive message about you. 
2. If it’s weird and out there and leaves you feeling a bit confused (e.g Yellow is over here.  Blue is over there. Where are you?) – At first you’ll be waiting for the punchline, but many of these questions are about seeing how you are at blue sky thinking or at responding to more obscure topics.  The best thing to do is to respond in character with the question and take it seriously, again whilst aiming to give a good flavour of your character.

With these in mind, we have put together the top 100 most ridiculous job interview questions ever asked (genuine examples). 
The first 50 are below and the 2nd 50 are downloadable using the form below.  Enjoy.
1. If you could be Batman or Robin, which one would you be?
2. What football team do you Support? – Why them?
3. Do you prefer cats or dogs?
4. Why on earth are you here today?
5. What was the most traumatic experience to happen in your personal life?
6. Sing a song that best describes you.
7. When you go on holiday, when do you pack your case?
8. What would I find in your fridge right now?
9. How would you explain a database in three sentences to your eight year old nephew?
10. If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet what would you want?
11. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
12. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
13. If I assembled three of your format supervisors in a room and asked them about you, what would they say about you that you would say is not true?
14. How would you design a spice rack for a blind person?
15. If you were a character from Star Wars, which one would you be?
16. Sell me this glass of water.
17. What has been your most bizarre life experience?
18. Why are manhole covers round?
19. What do you think would be a fitting epitaph on your gravestone?
20. What’s the most interesting holiday you’ve ever had?

21 - 50 and link to the second 50

12 Daily Habits to Boost Your Hire-ability

By Scott Ginsberg


In Part 1 of this series about elevating your visibility, you learned the secret to a successful job search: Anonymity is bankruptcy.

So, now that you’ve begun exerting your distinctiveness ; expressing your vulnerability and acting smart (not like a smarty pants ); let’s advance our discussion by exploring 12 daily practices to turn approachability into hire-ability!

1. Be radically honest.
Next time someone says, “Hey Karen — how’s it going?” respond by cheerfully saying, “Still unemployed!” Three things will happen:

• He will appreciate your candor
• He will become one more person aware of your situation,
• He will become more likely to help you find a job.

How many people did you tell you were unemployed today?


2. Become the observed.
You attend chamber meetings, BNI events, job expos and trade shows to look for job openings, right? Well, let me ask you this: When was the last time you were the guest speaker?
Really? Never? Wow. Try this: E-mail every single c hamber of c ommerce d irector in your city. Tell them you have an educational and entertaining presentation based on your expertise and career history that’s perfect for their membership.

If they ask what company you’re with, be radically honest and say, “Actually, I’ve been unemployed for six months, and I’ve had a lot of time to practice my presentation!” They’ll love you. And so will the audience, if you do it right.

When was the last time you gave a public presentation?



3. Blog every single day.
By sharing your expertise with the world, you will accomplish a few things: (1) Prove to people that you deliver insight, not just knowledge, (2) Boost your web presence, and (3) Accumulate a reservoir of resources to e-mail prospective employers.

Example: Imagine if, at the end of your thank-you e-mail to someone who just interviewed you, you included a P.S. that read, “By the way, Mr. Randall, I wrote a blog post last week about the four biggest mistakes made by HR d irectors. Just a few things I’ve learned in my career over the years. I hope I can help your company avoid these same mistakes!”

Why aren’t you blogging yet?



4. Print business cards.
“But I don’t have a job!” What’s your point? All the more reason to have your own business card.
Make them yourself. Use Vista Print, pay the 50 bucks, and carry a dozen with you wherever you go.
Tips: Red stands out. Pictures aren’t a bad idea. And for the love of God, don’t use “Papyrus” as your font. Oh, and bring them wherever you go. Because you never know. Everybody is somebody’s somebody.

How many opportunities have you missed because you didn’t have a card with you?


5. Change your e-mail.
If your e-mail address contains the letters “AOL” in it, change it. If you use it, people will prejudge your messages before they read them. People will also prejudge you before they meet you.
Here’s the reality: AOL is for old people, novices and technologically deficient professionals. Don’t be one of those people. Get your own Web site, or, if you must, use Gmail.

What does your e-mail address say about your professionalism?



6. Don’t be clever or cute.
Clever is using other people’s conversations as springboards for your little jokes that nobody thinks are funny but your cat. It annoys people and won’t encourage anyone to hire you.
Cute is sending a pink ribbon on your resume because you think it will get you noticed. Nope. It won’t. You need to be smart and strategic. Like creating an online video resume. That’s smart.

How much money is being cute costing you?


Tips 7 - 12 and complete The Ladders article

The Secret to Acing a Job Interview

May 31, 2012 · by Arleen Bradley


We know interviews by their very nature are stressful. There are many things you can do to reduce the stress an interview produces. You can prepare the possible questions, dress your best, research the company, and the rest of the interview preparation strategies.
However, there is one more thing you can do. Breathe. Yes, breathe. Not the breathing you are doing right now but breathe from your diaphragm. There is a remarkable relationship between how you breathe and the stress you feel. Put breathing from the diaphragm into your interview preparations.

The Problem

When you take fast, shallow breaths from your chest, you reduce the oxygen levels in your blood. This can cause some unpleasant symptoms such as:

• Dizziness
• Muscle tension
• Perspiring profusely
• Depression/anxiety
• High blood pressure
• Confusion
• Rapid heart rate

If these symptoms look familiar, they are. These also happen to be the same things you feel when you are stressed like at an interview. However, these signs can be reduced significantly by breathing from your belly or diaphragm.

The Benefits

When you breathe from your diaphragm, you use your entire lung. (The diaphragm is below your lungs.) The increased lung function makes the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange more efficient which provide more oxygen to your blood. The results of more oxygen in your blood will:

• Relax tense muscles
• Reduce stress
• Lower blood pressure
• Clearer thinking
• Lower heart rate

You Did it Before

You used to breathe deep down in your abdomen. Everyone did. As a newborn, you breathed from the belly naturally. You may even breathe like that during your sleep. Somehow, you began breathing from your chest. Perhaps it was because you were told to stand up straight with your chest out and stomach in. This posture constricted your abdominal muscles then reduced the depth of your breathing. Tight clothing does the same thing as does slouching when you sit.
But you can relearn to breathe from your diaphragm. In few minutes a day, you can relearn and practice breathing to increase your physical and mental wellbeing. It may feel strange at first, but with continued practice, you can change your breathing at will. You will be able to stop stress in its tracks whenever there is a need.

Re-Learn How to Breathe  - and the complete the complete Careerealism article

5 Cover Letter Blunders That Kill Your Chances

By Laura Smith-Proulx



You’ve polished your resume to no end, especially after finding a great job posting that seems tailor-made for your leadership skills. But did your cover letter merit the same attention?


Many hiring managers use your cover letter to gauge your interest in the company, as well as to measure your aptitude for the job.

Therefore, when you resort to “Dear Sir, I’m interested in your open job, here’s my resume,” you’re missing out on a critical chance to persuade employers to take you seriously for a top leadership role.
These 5 cover letter mistakes and omissions can quickly knock you out of consideration for the job you crave:

1 – Your opening line lacked punch.
“I am a Software Product Manager with 14 years leading product development teams” or “In response to your ad for an Operations Director, I have enclosed my resume” really aren’t compelling enough to use as opening statements.

Instead, try a hook that makes the hiring manager pay immediate attention, as in these examples:
“As Vice President Business Development, my relentless drive for sales success has brought revenue from zero to $40M—and I’m ready to deliver the same results for you.”

“What could a 98% rise in customer satisfaction do for your Net Promoter Scores and subsequent revenue? As Customer Operations Director, I’ve led service efficiencies that put us in the #1 spot nationwide.”

The idea is to speak precisely to the employer’s pain points while describing the performance impact you’ve had in previous roles.

Each of these opening lines quickly references the job being pursued, with a specific title and metrics-driven, peak career accomplishment meant to entice the reader.
Your opening line should also leverage the research you’ve done on the company, per the next point.

2 – You didn’t address the company’s problems.
Rattling off a list of competencies isn’t strong enough to distinguish you from other candidates, but speaking directly to the company’s needs will do the trick.

You have to dig into the company’s history, press releases, annual reports, and other news to figure out their pain points. It’s fairly simple to run a Google search on “ABC Company News” to see what’s come up over the past few months.

Is the company opening new offices? Were earnings down in previous quarters? What do industry analysts say about the company’s future and their business strategy?

Armed with this information, you’re able to connect your leadership skills to the employer’s needs much more succinctly:
“My ability to produce business development results (30% rise in cloud-based solution sales during Q4 2010) can address any struggles you’ve had in breaking into this market. Can we talk?”

3 – Your key points don’t match (or exceed) the job requirements.
Like resumes, cover letters must be precise and direct the reader… keeping them attentive to the reasons they should hire you and the edge your work can give them.

While you’re writing, put the job description in front of you to remind yourself what the employer is seeking. Then, look for ways to point out how you can surpass these expectations, rather than pointing out the obvious (“My qualifications include a Master’s degree from Iowa State University”).

The following example is taken from an IT Director cover letter:
“Your ad noted that you require a leader in service delivery and customer satisfaction. My career includes 3 years of 97% satisfaction ratings, achieved by improving infrastructure and network capacity, and I hold responsive service as my #1 priority.”


Tips 4 - 5 and complete CareerRocketeer article

Corn On the Job’s Top 25 Twitter Accounts for Job Seekers to Follow

When I launched Corn on the Job in July of 2009, I was unemployed, and in my own way, starting a job search of my own.  To be perfectly honest, the end result was more of a life search to understand who I was, where I’ve been, and most importantly, where I should be.  Much has come from that search, ultimately leading to the formation and launch of Bad Rhino Social Media, where I spend a great deal of my time these days.
In Corn on the Job’s (nearly) three year existence, I’ve been inspired by countless career experts.  Through email, online, phone, and in-person conversations, each of the experts I’ve interacted with pushed me to be a better blogger for my audience here on Corn on the Job.  For this reason, I wanted to create a list to highlight my personal favorite career experts.

 Top 25 Twitter Accounts for Job Seekers to Follow

#1 – @TimsStrategy

 Tim Tyrell-Smith may not know exactly how much I respect and admire his work.  When we had a phone call at some point in 2010, I was immediately impressed and have enjoyed reading his helpful articles and tweets since.  You can check out his blog/website at http://timsstrategy.com/blog/ and make sure to check out, “10 Signs You Are Being Lazy on Linkedin”

 

#3 – @UndercoverRec

Started by Jorgen Sundberg, Undercover Recruiter posts incredible content for job seekers, recruiters, and anyone in the career space.  When you follow their Twitter account, you won’t be disappointed by the mass of helpful links.  Stop by http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/ and make sure to read, “5 Less Than Obvious Ways to Network with People”.

#4 – @JobHuntChat

#JobHuntChat was invented by yours truly with help from Jessica Miller-Merrill (@blogging4jobs).  #JobHuntChat was the first ever twitter chat for job seekers, and features a weekly one-hour chat on Monday nights from 10-11PM.  We’ve been said to include the best mix of career experts and job seekers, which has resulted in an abundance of incredible connections made and information shared by community members.

#5 – @LindseyPollak

Many career experts break away from sharing entirely career or job search tweets.  That’s not the case with Lindsey.  She shares a ton of helpful links, that are either her own or from other experts.  Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s also a Linkedin Spokeswoman.  Check out her blog at http://www.lindseypollak.com/blog and make sure to read, “How LinkedIn Company Pages Can Help Your Job Search”

#6 – @JacobShare

Jacob Share is just an awesome guy that I’ve had the opportunity to chat with on a few occasions.  He is the man behind JobMob, a great resource for job seekers that like Corn on the Job, tries to bring in a certain level of humor into the process.  Check out http://jobmob.co.il/ and make sure to read, “20 Tools to Find Local Networking Events Quickly”

#7 – @Blogging4Jobs

When I invented #JobHuntChat, I realized that I needed to partner up with someone who was even more knowledgable than me.  Jessica Miller-Merrill (aka @blogging4jobs) was the very first person I reached out to.  Luckily, she said yes.  She has been an amazing help and I’ve witnessed first hand how much value she brings to job seekers.  Check out http://blogging4jobs.com and make sure to read, “Four Job Search Tips for the Passive Candidate”

#8 – @JoshuaWaldman 

Along with being the creator of his Career Enlightenment blog, Joshua Waldman also wrote Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies.  Ever since I was made aware of his presence, I’ve been a reader and follower, and have been learning ever since.  Check out http://careerenlightenment.com/ and make sure to read, “Is Twitter the New Way to Find Hidden Jobs?”

#10 – @DanSchawbel

Dan Schawbel is a personal branding expert that has been featured or quoted basically everywhere.   Personal branding is a hot topic for job seekers and Dan is the person to go to for guidance in this area.  Check out http://personalbrandingblog.com

#25 – @StevenRothberg

Steven Rothberg is the President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading job board for students seeking internships and new grads seeking entry-level jobs.  Make sure to check out http://collegerecruiter.com

Read the complete article and see all 25 experts to follow

An Inside Job: More Firms Opt to Recruit From Within

By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN and LAUREN WEBER



Here's a recruiting riddle: What costs more but often works worse? Outside hires.


Fueled by a conviction that there's plenty of talent in their ranks and backed by research showing that hiring outsiders can lead to costly missteps, firms are ramping up internal hiring efforts and investing in new career sites to boost intra-office movement. So far, those efforts are helping firms cut recruiting costs and retain high performers, companies say.

Cisco Systems Inc. has developed an internal career program, called Talent Connection, that seeks to identify "passive candidates," qualified employees who aren't necessarily looking for a job. The system is designed to help recruiters approach internal candidates the way they do external ones, says Mark Hamberlin, a Cisco vice-president of global staffing.


Since 2010, about half of Cisco's 65,000 employees have created profiles on the website and even more have used it to search for jobs, says Mr. Hamberlin. Talent Connection has saved the company "several million dollars" in search-firm fees and other recruiting costs, while employee surveys show workers' satisfaction with career development has risen by nearly 20 percentage points, he said.

Companies frequently struggle with hiring from within their ranks. Management expert, John Sullivan, on how to improve the process.

Promoting from within—from the chief executive on down—can deliver more benefits for companies than hiring outside talent, a growing body of research suggests.


One recent study from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School found that external hires were paid some 18% more than internal employees in equivalent roles, but fared worse in performance reviews during their first two years on the job.


Hiring managers may be wowed by an outsider's résumé or new perspective, but they "underestimate how hard it is to integrate new people," says Matthew Bidwell, a Wharton assistant professor whose study examined six years of employee data at a financial services company's U.S. investment banking unit, covering nearly 5,300 workers.


No matter how good the software, recruiters and employees need to carefully manage talent-hoarding bosses who fear losing top performers, says John Sullivan, a management professor at San Francisco State University.

Internal hiring systems are often useful for companies where work is done on a project basis. At Shaw Group Inc., an engineering and construction services company based in Baton Rouge, La., employees work on assignments that last anywhere from a few months to a decade. With 27,000 employees, management needed a comprehensive database to track workers' skills and experience.


"One of our executives said what we want is a baseball card," or a single page containing an employee's skills, training completed and performance evaluations, said Lacy Kiser, vice president of human resources at Shaw's Power Group in Charlotte, N.C.


The result is an Internet-based system that allows managers to quickly assess what talent is available for an open project and determine whether to begin an external search.


Since the system went live in late 2009, open positions are now staffed in 45 days, down from 60 days two years ago, Mr. Kiser said.

To be sure, companies need to make some external hires, especially in areas that could use a shake-up, or when they're growing rapidly. Prof. Sullivan said that change agents often have to come from outside.

Google Inc. last year replaced - Find out what Google replace and read the complete WSJ article