I promise: I’m not one of those people who believe social media can solve all our societal ills, though it is pretty great how it lets me flirt with men around the world. Whoa, where’d that come from? No one wants to hear about my dirty life and times…right?*shifty eyes.* Anyways homies, my point being, while social media can’t/won’t/shouldn’t solve all of our problems… if used properly, it can give you immediate access to people in a way that once would have been unimaginable. That access to people can then be turned into this amazing thing called…opportunities! #tahdah

For example, say you’re looking for a job. Humor me and let’s pretend you’re on LinkedIn with an industry-appropriate profile, a professional photo, no spelling mistakes and no recommendations from people who seem to be writing, badly, in ancient Sumerian. Continue humoring me—come on, I’m a cute girl—that you’ve joined groups on LinkedIn relevant to your education, professional associations, honor societies, and the like. Not only joined but contribute to, communicate with, participate in. Maybe you even, Allah willing, attend alumni events. #whoa Maybe you even help out other alumni, thus creating good karma for yourself. #burstingintosong

Okay, so you’re a trooper, you’re a champion…so, why not make a video, using Google+ for example—I’m currently crushing hard on Google+ till it wants to commit and I get bored…sigh—in which you give me, the viewer and potential employer, a little taste of you, your education, your personality and most important: YOUR PASSION. I guarantee that, unless you’re trying to be a brain surgeon—in which case…why are you reading this? Shouldn’t you be saving someone’s life right about now?—passion is (almost) always going to triumph over expertise. When people are hiring, they’re thinking about which candidate is going to come to work smiling, presentable, intelligible and with a great attitude and the desire to make the company money. No one wants to spend 8 hours a day with an asshole: f**k, these people are married, they get enough shit and mind-games at home! 

So why not make a short—translation: NOT DOWNTOWN ABBEY—video in your living room, for example, wearing a nice suit, or a feminine dress, comb your hair, smile and tell me a little bit about you, as it relates to the industry you’re interested in. Tell me all about your relevant skills, your unique experience and education, your passion and of course, how to reach you. Then, you could link that video to your LinkedIn status, put it on Google+, even Tweet it (oh, be still my beating heart), and, why the hell not, post it on your Facebook page and ask your friends to let you know if they have any industry contacts.

B*tch, do not even give me that side-eye. You can over-share on Facebook about your (boring) child or your half-baked political “thoughts”…but you can’t help your friends to help you by explaining why you should be hired? Maybe you were planning on faxing that resume? Hey, it’s only 2013…maybe by 2020, you’ll have heard of this thing called THE FUTURE! #grumpy   Every time you fax you make the Internet cry, but okay, be that way, live with yourself.  

Want more snark/ideas/nagging? Oh of course you do... Email me @carlotazee@gmail.com, or become a fan of my Facebook page, "Carlotaworldwide Creativity Yenta," for a free consultation!

Besos,

C.

Coaching Hint #2

Last week, I went to a free workshop held at the NYC Bar Association for young attorneys seeking to improve their job prospects. I'm not really an attorney--have the degree, but don't practice--but I have experienced many strange, interesting and occasionally beautiful things in this life due to my love of the words "for free." (Except for that one time, I let a friend of mine drag me to Nicolas Cage's painfully bad 8MM. Even though my ticket was free, I still thought that she should somehow recompense me for the minutes of my life I would never get back. But eventually, you know, she got over her rage and we became friends again. Alcohol was probably involved somewhere in that process.)
All of this to say: I primarily went to this workshop because it was free and oh my, actually learned a great deal. I love when that happens. Thus, my coaching hints for the day are about your resume.
I'm always amazed by how few people actually have a resume that demonstrates the range and depth of their experience. It reminds me of the time a friend asked me to read and critique a short story she had written. The story revolved around a significant and recent historical event in this country. After I read the story, my friend, from the expression on my face, realized she had left some things out, and started giving me the back-story. The back-story, by the way, was fascinating...but that wasn't what I had read! Don't let this happen to your resume. HR won't wait around for you to give them the back-story.
If you have instances in your professional life when you've gone above and beyond your responsibilities, when you've taken initiative and gotten difficult assignments done, for example, but on your resume, it simply says, "researched case law"...seriously? Your resume is going to be deleted, and someone with a fraction of your expertise, someone who can sell herself, is going to get hired...for a job you could do!
That makes me cranky.
So, look over your resume, have your good friends, have as many people as possible, look over your resume and consider: does your resume clearly indicate that you can do the work you are applying for? Does it also indicate that you are qualified for the work? Does it show that you have relevant experience in the field? Does it give the reader an understanding of your abilities and how these abilities would relate to the position on offer? HR cannot divine your life story! All they know is what you tell them. So ask yourself: what story am I telling HR, and does that story truly represent the best of what I can do?

As a creativity yenta, I frequently get resumes from potential clients. Frequently I find these resumes rather impressive. So impressive, in fact, that under other circumstances, I might get a little jealous. Under other circumstances--as in, if we weren't inhabiting an its’-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it economy--these people would probably be giving me directions on how they like their coffee.

But since we do live in an economy that’s bad and getting worse, an economy which can sometimes make you hopeful for The Rapture as a ticket out, I work with said clients to make them understand: you’re resume is great, I’m super impressed, but to get hired, you have to make an employer understand that you are a valuable return upon their investment.

To do that you must constantly upgrade your skills, your education and network. For example, I worked in TV news for years. I did a lot of fancy jobs on fancy shows. I have a lot of friends still in TV. But if  I wanted to return to TV, just sending in my resume and asking my old friends for help would get me a whole lot of nada. I haven’t worked in TV since 2008. All of my “skills” are at least 3 years old…well, except for my innate ability to throw phones at people who miss their deadlines and make bad writers cry. That gift will stay with me forever. The gift that keeps on giving.

But... I can’t do digital editing, I don’t shoot, I don't have my own equipment, etc. So why would a network hire me? I’m going to cost them a large amount of money in benefits, or even a straight day rate, and they’re going to have to spend extra time and money training me. I was a history major who avoided math like an ugly date, but even I can see that in that situation, I would be a waste of their resources. The value I bring would not be a sufficient return on their investment. 

That sounds a little cold-blooded, right? Yup. As the man said, “The business of America is business.” And once you start thinking about yourself as a business, as a business that must succeed, and thinking about what skills you have, as well as what skills you lack, and how you would market yourself, and who would be receptive to that marketing……well, then you too can be in business.