The Downsized Diaries

I attended my 2nd job search work team meeting today. Job search work teams are offered by the outplacement agency my company provided. I wanted to go through 2 rounds before sharing my take on it.

I love it.

I didn’t realize until I attended how “out here on my own” I felt. Here you meet with 12-14 folks from varying industries, but all in the same boat with you. As is the case with grad school and other group settings, you learn as much from each other as you do from books,web,etc. We report the number of hours we spend on job search each week, number of contacts made,etc. This isn’t a competition, rather, I find it gives me a feeling of usefulness. I have a report due with metrics each Wednesday, and that is actually very healthy mentally.

There seems to be some interest among my group in learning more about social media tools for job search, especially Twitter, so I am going to put a little workshop together.

Never thought I’d be this happy to go to a meeting.

Jobs in a Recession Survey Results 2: Most Recent Hires Got Jobs in Less Than Three Months.

If there were such a thing as a blogger Congressional Medal of Freedom, .Jeremiah Owyang deserves one.  Jeremiah has been dedicated and selfless in helping people find jobs in social media. Using his wide influence in the blogosphere network, he’s been dedicated to posting openings, promotions, and hirings.This post shows results of  a “time to landing” (a job) survey he conducted recently.  Standing O, Jeremiah.

PS. My dream is to one day make your “On the Move in Social Media” post series.

What’s REALLY Bugging You About Getting Laid Off? | Career Renegade | Career Change Revolution.

Jonathan Fields is a godsend for anyone who’s been downsized or is making a career change.  If you haven’t yet, get thee over to his Career Renegade site and immerse yourself in it. This particular post was on time for me today, with a bout of the layoff blues hitting me this afternoon unprompted.

Mr. Fields’ book of the same name launchde earlier this month. If you purchase the book, (about $12-13 on Amazon.com) you can participate in Career Renegade Flight School, which is 16 free hours of online education about how to truly “make a living doing what you love.” as the subtitle says.

Thank you Jonathan!

EDITOR’s NOTE: Dan Schwabel of Mashable offers some streamlined,pratical advice for stepping your job search game up with a few free low-cost steps. –K

With a social media resume, you’re able to paint a completely different portrait of yourself for hiring managers and customize it to reflect your personal brand. With the inclusion of various multimedia elements, sharing options, integrated social networking feeds and the same elements you’d find in a traditional resume, you are better equipped for success.

Read Dan’s entire post here.