This one is for anyone in career transition… talk about a terrific resource! Its name: JibberJobber.com.
Here’s the back story:
Jason Alba was a high flyer with an outstanding resume that was the envy of all his friends. Then, he was unexpectedly impacted by a downsizing at his company. Depression hit when he couldn’t find a job and quickly realized he’d been neglecting every other part of his life while he was employed. To boot, he was sitting on his La-Z-Boy, talking with a recruiter, desperately trying to enter all of the info he had about the job into a spreadsheet. It was all so complicated and demoralizing. That’s when he thought: There must be a better way!
And, so, he created it. Enter JibberJobber.com, a tool for job seekers modeled after professional CRM (customer relationship management) systems that incorporates information about contacts (from whom 65-95% of job opportunities are discovered), target companies and logs (i.e. a place to store notes about interactions). Additionally, JibberJobber.com provides all kinds of useful online courses at no cost to the job seeker.
Interested? Do this:
- Sign up for JibberJobber.com. There, you will not only find out how to sign up, you will also find a four-minute video about how it works. With your registration, you will automatically get 14 days of access to JibberJobber Premium for free.
- Track your leads. Another introductory video at JibberJobber.com explains how to make the system work for you.
- Watch online course videos. As previously mentioned, in addition to tracking opportunities and leads, there is a terrific catalog of courses that you will find useful to you in your search. And, the best news… each time you watch a video, you will be granted an additional week of access to the JibberJobber Premium site.
- Shift your perspective. I was really taken with Jason’s tips for shifting focus away from the “downside” of the job search and toward the excitement of the adventure! Here are just a few of his useful tips:
- When people ask, “How’s your job search going?” remember what they are really asking is, “How can I help?” Be prepared with your response about both how it’s going, what you’re doing and how they can be useful to you.
- Your best leads come not from your first and second degree contacts (the people with whom you primarily interact), but from your third and fourth degree contacts. Reach out!
- Instead of seeking “job security” (after all, it doesn’t really exist, does it?), look for “income security” (think: multiple streams of income and diversification) and “career management.”
- Be intentional about establishing a personal brand you are proud of.
So, that’s it! Know that this is not a paid advertisement; rather, it’s just a great resource to begin utilizing today. Now, get out there and Connect! Happy Networking!