August 18, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

Nowadays, job seekers need to incorporate social media into their job hunt.  The good news is that these tools are free to use (unless you want to upgrade to the premium level on some of them).  Social media refers to connecting with people via the Internet to have a discussion; it’s often referred to as Web 2.0.  It was the latest evolution of the Internet.  The next wave, possibly Web 3.0, is already occurring.  With social media tools, you can share all sorts of information via documents, multimedia, or live chats all at the same time.

Our nonprofit has been part of the social network for employment since 2009.  We use the following social media tools: a Twitter account @Broke4Jobs, Blogging4Broke, Paper.li for e-newspapers, and our Web site, www.brokebutnotforlong.org.   I also use LinkedIn.com and Yahoo Connections to network with other professionals.  We decided not to use Facebook because it requires nonusers to set-up accounts.  Whereas, the twitter feed can be viewed without logging in via a widget (electronic gadget that is embedded into a Web page with HTML code).

First, you should create a Twitter account for the job hunt.  Twitter is called microblogging because you can only “tweet” 174 characters.  Be professional with your tweets because the Library of Congress is documenting them!  Moreover, what you “tweet” will show up in a Google search.  If you set up a Google Alert on your twitter name/handle, you will find that this is true.  Google alerts are part of gmail, Gooogle’s email, which is also free.

Why would you want to use Twitter to find a job? Because many companies have job boards on Twitter.   Visit our twitter account to view our list of US and international job boards.  Currently, there’s a polarized debate going on regarding the future of face-to-face and online job boards.  Matt Adler of Recruiting Futurology stated in his article, “The Job Cloud–Why Twitter is the Future of Job Boards, “Depending on your viewpoint/agenda it seems you should either believe they are going to suffer a painful death and all shut down tomorrow or carry on regardless effortlessly circumventing the massive digital changes that are effecting every other industry so drastically.”

He goes on to say that companies can get several hundred qualified applicants even though they don’t have many followers.  Basically, a “tweet” can go along way!  People retweet important or fun tweets that they find.  I’m always retweeting interesting jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities in hopes that one of my followers will go after it.  We currently have 573 followers, and I “follow” twice that amount.  If you’d like to learn more about Twitter for the job hunt, read the TweetSheet created by Marci Reynolds at www.marcireynolds.com.

Sandra Annette Rogers

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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July 31, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

Dear Readers,

Here’s a compelling article written by the CEO of FlexJobs.com regarding telecommuting.  Last year, I decided to make a career change to teach and work online.  After many hours of retraining, volunteering in the field of online teaching, creating a hybrid class, and working online as a part-timer grading papers, in August I will go completely online!  Not to mention creating our Web site, this blog, and a twitter account for our nonprofit, BrokeButNotForLong, Inc.  I’m thrilled about working from home and saving money on gas, regaining my hour and 45 minute lost in commute, and also not adding wear-and-tear to my 10 year old vehicle.  Moreover, I’m going green, too!  The article below was written by Sarah Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.com whose whole company is virtual.

Why the heck aren’t telecommuting jobs at the top of the green jobs pile?

Your blogger,

Sandra

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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July 27, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

A relative of mine tells me she’s amazed by the jobs I find.  Part of the job hunt includes lots of preparation.  It’s not just the search for employment but the specialized training to make yourself a necessary hire in any economy.  For example, I’m a teacher.  There are thousands of teachers. Therefore to make my specialized niche in the education field, I became certified as a bilingual instructor.

Of course this is due in part to my work and language training in the Peace Corps in Honduras.  However, many Peace Corps volunteers lose their acquired second language if they don’t use it.  I’ve made a concentrated effort to keep my second language and build on it.  Now in today’s job market being bilingual is not enough since you may be forced to move to an area that doesn’t have a need for a bilingual educator.  This was my situation, so  last year, I decided to add certification in online teaching.

Technical skills are in high demand, and I found that learning about technology is like learning a new language.  Luckily, it’s a language that I can speak now.   I would say that I’m at a high-intermediate level in technology on a proficiency scale.  I will finish my online teaching certification in the fall and already have two online teaching jobs lined-up.  Consequently, I currently have an online scoring job for a professional nonprofit in the educational testing field.

I wanted to share this information with you to help you focus on your job niche.  Whatever your profession, think about how you can train for a high-need, or specialized area of need in your field.  Definitely include in your plan-of-action, your desires and interests.  What motivates you to get up and go to work everyday?  Or would you like to have a work-from-home job environment?  I’m always strategizing my next job move.

When I was young, I didn’t think much about the effect of becoming bilingual; I simply volunteered for the Peace Corps after college.  It was a consequence of my wanting to help others in the Peace Corps.  Becoming bilingual spurred me to want to teach languages, so I got a masters in Teaching English as a Second Language.  Basically, what I’m saying is to follow your heart, as well as, the needs of your career outlook.

Your interests can add layers to your job specialty.  As for myself, besides adding technology skills to my resume, I have a compassion for learning more about adaptive technology to help those with disabilities. I already took a class and have been conducting a lot of self-study on the topic.  Self-study is critical and cost-free for delving into a new area of interest.  For example, it helped me conduct a self-study to get this nonprofit started.

This will be a series of diary-like entries about my job history.  There are a lot of articles on the Internet about where to find work and how to go about the job hunt.  However, there aren’t many anecdotal, real-life experiences on building your career.  I hope that my Broke Blog diary series can address that vacuum.  The next resume diary entry will detail all the places where I found work throughout my life!  This blog post is my 20th, and I’d like to close with a great big thank you to my followers!  If you liked this article, then read Part 2: http://blog.brokebutnotforlong.org/diary-of-a-resume-part-2/.

Sandra Annette Rogers,

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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June 27, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

There’s a saying I like, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”  It definitely applies to the job market.  We generally know to look in the newspaper or on the Internet for jobs, but how often do we ask people face-to-face about job opportunities?  Mining for jobs is akin to digging for that vein of employment in places that on the surface appear to be devoid of job openings.  Am I telling you to hit the streets all dressed-up with your resume in hand? Yes! Am I saying you should call the employer where you last interviewed and ask why you didn’t get the job? Yes!  Am I suggesting that you tell everyone you know that you need a job? That’s right.  Personally, all of these activities have lead to jobs.

When you were younger you might have walked around the mall and asked for jobs at the various shops.  As an adult, it’ll take some boldness to go into businesses and ask.  I was pleasantly surprised by how many people would tell me, “Wait right there,” and then go ask their supervisors the question.  When I was looking for work several years ago, I went into law firms to ask if they needed a secretary because I had recent experience with a legal firm.  I even had an interview with someone who had already hired a secretary but had bad luck in the past with new hires.  He interviewed me anyway, just in case.  It didn’t lead to a job with that firm; however, after walking around I got a call from an office where I had slipped my resume under their door after hours.

You’re a highly qualified, conscientious, hard worker.  Right?  Maybe you didn’t get hired after your interview but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t another opportunity available in a different department.  Make that inquisitive call to find out why you didn’t get hired.  It’s a bit nerve-racking to hear the truth, but maybe it will be a relief when you hear that you did just fine.  It’ll help you learn what skills you lack or what you could do differently in the interview.  Remember that you are a great potential hire! While you have them on the phone, mine for jobs.  Ask them about other opportunities within the company.  Is there someone else that you can talk to for job leads?

I just discovered a part-time job by introducing myself to an administrator after not getting hired for a different full-time job.  I was on a fact-finding mission, as aforementioned, to introduce myself and share my particular skills.  The irony is that this job at the university has been there all along.  It’s only a part-time job, but it’s one that I qualify for; one that I could have gotten back in 2006 when I first moved to Alabama and went months without work. I had no idea that this was a teaching area where I could apply my skills.  I hope this is good food-for-thought for your job hunt.  Remember, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” so go find out!

Sandra Annette Rogers,

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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March 27, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

I let a former employee know that I was looking for work and was hired as a part-time instructor for the university.  It’s such a relief to be working again after six months of unemployment. In addition, it was an easy transition to return to a previous job setting.

I wear my new employer ID like a badge of honor.  It’s almost surreal to have a job to go to in the morning.  Because I have specialized skills, I didn’t think that I would be out of work for such a long time.  Neither did my husband!

Unfortunately, I read that six months of unemployment has become common.  In addition, employers are still not hiring full-time, as is my case.  The university where I am employed currently has a hiring freeze for full-time employment.

I worked at this university in 2007 and with some of the staff at another college in 1994.  I’ll have to add–call your previous employer–to the tips listed in a previous blog,”Strategies for the Job Hunt.”  Of course, you don’t need to call on your former employers that, to put it politely, are not the right fit for your career!

In order to take the job, my husband and I had to move to another city which means that he had to get a job transfer.  Glory be to God that it all transpired successfully.  Making a move is always a juggle with housing, pets, the mail, and utilities.

When considering your job opportunities, you may have to make a move, especially in this current economy.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides links to the various state, CareerOneStop, Web sites that can provide you with specific data as to the areas of job growth and the types of jobs available.

For those of you still on the job hunt, I hope you find full-time work soon.  I will continue to tweet job and training opportunities on Twitter @Broke4Jobs, as well as upload new content to our Web site, BrokeButNotForLong.org.   Please leave a comment.

Your blogger,

Sandra Annette Rogers
Look for jobs: http://www.indeed.com/p/index.php?pid=7080813311402333

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December 11, 2009 by Sandra Rogers.

In recognition to all the young displaced workers, especially the recent graduates, I’d like to share my experience volunteering for the Peace Corps.  It’s an alternative to the 9 to 5 job and can lead to an international career.  Given the current economy, looking for work outside the US may be the right move for you! When I graduated from college, I joined the Peace Corps in 1985.  I remember how many of my friends and even professors thought that it wasn’t a good idea for my career.  In fact, I had difficulty finding references for my application because my professors didn’t approve of my decision.  One professor did; she told me that it’d be the best decision that I ever made.  She was right!

How was I selected to go?  I had received my bachelor of science in clothing, textile and design and was accepted to work as a nutrition educator because many of the volunteers in this branch were also working with clothing cooperatives, as income generating projects for destitute women.  I also grew up with the Spanish language spoken at home.  I served in a small village in the state of Copan in Honduras, Central America.  I was a nutrition educator and worked with the local nurse and school teachers to give presentations on health and nutrition, as well as arts and crafts.  Besides working in the village, once a month, I assisted another volunteer in teaching some children in a remote village where there was no formal schooling.

I received three months of language training in Tegucigalpa, as well as cross-cultural communications and nutrition classes.  All the volunteers lived with Honduran host families to help us acculturate to our new setting and learn the language.  We even attended language classes on Saturdays.  Training was extremely stressful but also a wonderful time to meet other volunteers from all over the US.  After passing the language exam and being sworn in, I was placed in San Jose de Copan.  It was an impoverished village with dirt roads, no electricity or indoor plumbing.  However, my village was better than most because past volunteers had lived and worked there and implemented several projects.  The history of collaboration between the Peace Corps and Josefinas (as the villagers were called) contributed to my success as a volunteer.

I continued working with an existing clothing cooperative, but provided more authentic designs to the products.  I incorporated the Mayan Indian designs from the nearby ruins of Copan.  In the past, volunteers have helped the villagers produce embroidered clothing with tourist motifs such as palm trees, setting suns, and hibiscus.  I was able to improve on the design of the clothing by utilizing my degree. After I felt comfortable in my new setting, I started other artisan projects.  There were several women who worked with different mediums: clay, seeds, guacales (gourds), and loofahs.  It was such a great experience to work with these women to see their own creations and work on marketing the products.

During my two years’ service, I also made great friendships with the Honduran families in my village.  I like to read literature and write poetry and was able to do both of these, as there was nothing to distract me.  I wrote about the characters in the village.  Even after I left Honduras, the images, smells, and music remain with me.

The Spanish language has stayed with me, as well.  When I returned to the US, I was able to teach Spanish to pay for my graduate studies, as a teaching assistant.  I received tuition remission and a stipend plus teaching experience at the college level!  My professors were amazed!  I had to take a few advanced grammar classes to professionalize my speech because the majority of my Spanish language interactions in the village were in the local dialect and not formal speech.  Fortunately, I’ve used Spanish as part of my work since that time.  I  became a bilingual elementary teacher and used my Spanish to educate children in East Los Angeles to become biliterate.  I also worked for an educational publisher that produced Spanish and English as a second language books and materials.

I didn’t realize what irreplaceable gifts I’d receive from serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  The gift of interacting with a culture different from your own; the gift of learning a second language; and the gift of having served others!  I first got interested in the Peace Corps when noticing a poster on the wall in my college.  It said, “Peace Corps, the toughest job you’ll ever love!”  They weren’t kidding around.  It definitely is difficult on your health, your mental health, and your long distance relationships.  If you’re interested in learning more, here are the links:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whatispc

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.returned.thirdgoal

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship.  The Peace Corps’ mission has three simple goals:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Sandra Annette Rogers

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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December 3, 2009 by Sandra Rogers.

Sometimes you need to create your own job or enhance the one you have when you’re not employed full time.  Once I had six part-time jobs, and a few yard sales on the weekends to make ends meet.  My main job was teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at the local university, but it was difficult to gain full-time employment, as many institutions of higher learning utilize part-time instructors to teach the majority of their classes.

I know of many college instructors who have multiple jobs.  To supplement my job, I worked as a secretary at a law firm (Job #2) but the pay was low.  Then I got the idea to recruit ESL students for the university, thereby, creating a new class for me to teach.  I spoke with the ESL program coordinator about my recruitment idea and shared my background experience with marketing.  He agreed to let me recruit students for their satellite campus.

The satellite campus which is located in another city had never previously hosted ESL courses, so I prepared fliers, went to the main office to introduce myself, and ask permission to market the course.  Then I met with the city’s chamber of commerce and asked them for permission to post the flyers.  Since the city was experiencing an influx of non-English speaking immigrants, they recognized the need for the course.

The ESL program coordinator ran an advertisement in the city’s paper announcing the course and gave my name as the contact person.  The coordinator and I would meet and brainstorm on who we should contact, and I kept an Excel document of the contact information.  I also informed friends and family of my recruitment efforts and followed up on any leads they provided.  I even got bold and would approach construction sites around town when I saw immigrant workers.

My efforts landed me another ESL course to teach at the satellite campus; this time in the city where I actually lived!  It was such a joy to be able to walk to work after commuting across the bay to another town to teach at the main university.  My first class had six students (Job #3).  Since it was the initial ESL course at the satellite campus, my supervisor allowed the small number in hopes of building the program.

When that course ended, I had several ESL students sign up for another course but then dropped out.  I was left with four students which was not enough to pay for my salary basically.  I wanted to teach my recruits, so I offered to teach them from my home (Job #4).

A lot of little jobs added up to cover my living expenses.  I had befriended a couple who owned a jewelry store.  On every first Monday of the month, the town had an “Art Walk.”  My friends participated by highlighting an artist and his/her work.  Eventually, I ended up serving wine at these events (Job #5) but only worked there one day a month!

Another friend of mine worked at a restaurant with a bar that had just opened.  I talked to the owners about allowing me to teach Salsa dancing once a week in exchange for free food and drink.  (Actually, I found out later that the owner only thought I was getting a few drinks.)  I am not a big drinker, so the bartender would give me a hamburger, too.  It was my one night out in the week that I could afford.  I made some new friends and actually met my husband there!  That was Job #6 and great exercise, too.

I went about marketing the Salsa dance class the same way that I had marketed the ESL class which helped promote the new bar.  No one else in town was teaching Salsa dancing.  I had several students show up for the dance classes which made the owners happy.  The dance class was also within walking distance from my home, so I was in great physical shape.  I wanted to share this story with you so that you can be inspired to go for what you want.  Think about how you can enhance your current job or use your talents to start something new!

Last night after I had posted this blog, I thought about how I only mentioned the triumphs in securing additional work.  It behooves me to mention the trials without error.  During this time, I also attempted to:

• start my own dog walking business but only ended up volunteering at the local shelter to walk dogs.
• apply for many full-time jobs but wasn’t hired.
• pass a Spanish legal exam to become a Spanish language court interpreter but didn’t pass.  (The test cost me $150 but at the very least, I improved my Spanish by studying for the exam.)
• translate commercials into Spanish for a radio station but it was a scam that cost me $300!

Now you have the whole story, but let’s focus on the positive.  Part of putting yourself out there can be risky; however, it also serves as a learning experience that may result in a job.  This is part of the American spirit of entrepreneurship.

–Sandra Rogers

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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November 16, 2009 by Sandra Rogers.

I walked out of my job on September 3, 2009 to develop our organization’s Web site and blog.  In the past two months, I’ve been lucky to have several interviews.  However, I still don’t have a job.  In part, I think it was due to my nervousness on the phone interviews.  Have you ever experienced one before?  This was the first time for me, and I thought it would be simple, as I am quite confident in face-to-face (F2F) interviews.

On the contrary, I was nervous and the more I spoke, the more nervous I got!  To say the least, it was very unnerving.  The problem is that you can’t see the facial expressions of the interviewers which can lead you to doubt yourself.  You don’t even breathe normal, as you start to talk faster and faster.

I wanted to share this with those of you on the job hunt, so that it doesn’t catch you by surprise and ruin your one or two chances at a job.  I started asking around about phone interviews, and it appears to be a new time/money saving trend.  I researched some strategies to get you through a phone interview and found some good advice on http://www.himjobs.com/interview_tips/phoneinterviews.htm

Some of the advice is fairly basic like “Be Up, Enthusiastic,” while other strategies may surprise you.  For example, it states that you should be standing up when you do the phone interview to allow your voice to sound more confident.  They also advise you to speak slowly and relax.  (I think if I spoke slowly during an interview, the interviewers might think it odd of me.)

Moreover, H.I.M. Recruiters state that you should be ready with notes to highlight your talents.  I had mine beside me, albeit I was sitting down during the interview and completely got flustered with the phone interview and forgot to read from my scripted notes.  Of course, I believe that the right job for me will come soon.

Recently, I experienced two Web-based interviews conducted by Gallup.  Yes, that’s the Gallup Poll company.  The first one was for a teaching job, and I hope I did alright.  The second one was for a hospital.  A Web-based interview is an electronic survey that asks you several questions in a limited amount of time.  Therefore, do not attempt to take these if you’re watching television or otherwise multitasking, as it will time out.

These electronic surveys ask you some of the same questions but in a different format in an attempt to extract the truth from you.  For example, it may ask you a multiple choice question about something and then ask the same question in a grid: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree.

Lastly, I want to share my experience with the one interview that I was able to do in person.  Honestly, I was so excited to finally talk to someone in person that my enthusiasm may have gotten the best of me! It was a job that I was highly qualified for and one that I really wanted!  Hopefully, when you get your chance to finally go for that F2F interview, you will do fine.  Don’t forget to prepare for those telephone or Web-based interviews, too.

Best of luck,

–Sandra  Annette Rogers
sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

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