Let’s get NJ working!
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Photo credit: Morris County Library, Info Center via Flickr Creative Commons License
Updated: November 15, 2011
NJ Job Search Stories Wanted
Seeking Guest Writers to help us update our site by contributing real-life stories of job search challenges in New Jersey. Are you using social media to help you land a job? What questions do you have about social networking and the job search process in NJ? Email: editor@njsocialmedia.com with your story ideas, questions or comments. Thanks! ~Eva
Updated: May 11, 2011
NJWorks.org
Here’s a resource that I saw on the side of bus as I was driving this morning, so I thought I would check it out: http://njworks.org
The goal of NJWorks.org: To help in the economic recovery of the state by giving libraries the tools they need to expand services to the unemployed and underemployed.
You can search for free classes and workshops for help with your resume and online job search, view career videos, learn about resources for small businesses, plus more.
Have you used your local library as a resource for your job search? Was it helpful? Contact me with your comments by email: editor@njsocialmedia.com and let me know how your job search is going.
Updated: April 22, 2011
Energy Bill Paying Assistance
Do you know someone having trouble paying their energy bills? Let them know help is available. In challenging economic times, there are customers who may need assistance in paying their natural gas bills. Non-profit organizations and federal, state and local agencies offer a variety of programs to assist qualified individuals.
Click pdf for more info or visit http://www.elizabethtowngas.com/Home/EnergyAssistance.aspx
It’s a new year, let’s take a new look at you.
We all have a talent, something that we’re really good at. What’s your talent?
Need help figuring it out?
1. Talk to someone who really knows you and ask them for their honest opinion.
2. Figure out a way to let the world know about your talent, like Ted Williams did. Don’t keep it to yourself!
3. Let me know how I can help — by helping you figure out your talent, or by helping you publicize your talent here on our site for free. Contact me, let’s talk: email editor at njsocialmedia dot com.
Let’s get you working for the new year!
Best wishes,
Eva, email: editor at njsocialmedia dot com
Updated: December 17, 2010
Back to Work NJ
Commentary on NewJerseyNewsroom.com about “Back to Work NJ” — a legislative initiative to create jobs, lure new businesses and jump-start economic development, written by Stephen M. Sweeney and Sheila Y. Oliver.
Sweeney, of Gloucester County, is the Senate President. Oliver, of East Orange, is Speaker of the General Assembly.
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/its-time-to-put-new-jersey-back-to-work
Updated: November 15, 2010
For those receiving NJ unemployment benefits, how will this change affect you?
A recent article from Oct. 27, 2010 in the Asbury Park Press [ or see link at http://www.app.com/article/20101027/NEWS03/101027004/NJ-to-replace-unemployment-checks ] discusses how the NJ Department of Labor will replace weekly unemployment checks with either direct deposit or Bank of America debit cards, saving the state up to $8 million a year. According to the report, the last of the checks will be sent by February 2011. What are your thoughts? Join the discussion on Facebook at NJ Social Media page.
Updated: November 8, 2010
Social media paid training offered by NJ Department of Labor
You may have read about the accelerated Social Media Marketing Course, offered as part of the Rutgers Mini MBA Program. (See previous post on NJSocialMedia.com for more information).
Here is exciting news for New Jersey residents who are receiving unemployment benefits!
For those living in New Jersey, funding (up to $5,000) is available from the New Jersey Department of Labor that, if you qualify, would pay for the entire course! Job-seekers can find out more by visiting their local One Stop career office (click here for the State of NJ One Stop office locator) and making an appointment to meet with a jobs counselor to discuss how to apply for these funds.
Updated: November 5, 2010
RESOURCE:
Website link for State of New Jersey re UnemploymentClaims, Benefits, Career Training
Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development: http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/ui/ui_index.html
What has your experience been in dealing with the State of NJ and unemployment benefits and training? Has it been good, bad, or otherwise?
We’d like to know! Contact us via email: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com or voicemail: 1-877-708-0884
Updated: August 11, 2010
Hire Me-NJ Job Search Discussion and Networking
Featuring Absolutely Abby
Previously held on Sunday, Aug. 8, from 7pm-8:30pm
Location: Nighthawk Book, Highland Park NJ
See more details and info on our Events Page: http://njsocialmedia.com/nj-events
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Updated: July 29, 2010
Job-focused community collaboration in Somerset County, NJ
In a recent column by Paul Grzella, General Manager/Editor of Home News Tribune, Courier News and myCentralJersey.com, he explained about a new job-focused initiative created by the Somerset County Business Partnership.
Grzella wrote:
“The group’s aim is to know what jobs employers have now, and what jobs they will have in the future, so that the workforce in the region can fit employers’ needs today and five years from now. The group’s goal is simple yet profound — to develop a system so that everyone can work in a productive job and be ready to be retooled if the job market and job needs change.”
Read Paul Grzella’s full column from July 26, 2010 here: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100726/OPINION06/100726030/1187
For more information about the Somerset County Business Partnership, call 908-218-4300 or visit www.SCBP.org
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Updated: July 28, 2010
Getting a Job in Social Media, interview with NJ’s Deb Ng
Column in myCentralJersey.com by Eva Abreu features Deb Ng of Hillsborough, NJ; discusses how Deb has landed jobs in social media
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20107280313
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Updated: July 16, 2010
NJ – Getting a job using Social Media
Here’s a great example of the use of Twitter and social networking to land a job. Interview with Colleen Curry – @currycolleen – Hyperlocal Editor for Freehold.InJersey.com Video by @AsburyPop, VoxPopNJ.com Laura Gesin.
This interview, taped in July 2009, details how Colleen found a job right out of Journalism school through the use of Twitter.
(Video used with permission. Thank you to Laura Gesin at voxpopnj.com!)
Updated: July 13, 2010
From Australia to NY: how graphic designer Jacob Cass was hired through Twitter.
Here is his blog post from July 2009 describing how he received a job inquiry through Twitter: Aussie Goes to NYC
An update: as of today, he’s now searching for another full-time opportunity and has posted it publicly on his blog. Best wishes to Jacob and we’ll keep watch to see if he finds his next gig using social media. Do you know of a similar story of landing a job using Twitter or Facebook? Let us know: email editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com . Update: Jacob found a job within 2 weeks of his job search! Here he explains how he did it and his advice for job seekers: http://justcreativedesign.com/2010/08/02/design-agency-job-hunting-tips/
Updated: July 10, 2010
25 Places to Find Social Media Jobs
Looking for a job in social media? NJ’s own Deb Ng shares some great resources in her blog post: http://kommein.com/50-places-to-find-social-media-jobs/
Updated: July 9, 2010
A New Job Just A Tweet Away
By Sarah E. Needleman, Wall Street Journal Article, Sept. 8, 2009
This article discusses how companies use Twitter to list job openings.
Hat tip to Joseph Cannizzaro (Twitter @Cannizzaro718 ) for posting this on Twitter
Updated: June 30, 2010
Job Search Sites
Here’s a good source for job listings in NJ on www.CNNMoney.com:
http://jobsearch.money.cnn.com/a/all-jobs/list/l-new+jersey
What other job search sites do you think we should add here? Email: editor at njsocialmedia dot com or tweet @NJSocialMedia
Updated: June 29, 2010
Real Simple Article: How to Find a Job (yes, even now)
I recently picked up a copy of the June 2010 edition of Real Simple Magazine on the newsstand (yes, I’m one of the only 2 people left on earth who actually reads a hard copy of a magazine!) I read the following article “How to Find a Job (yes, even now)” featuring 9 women who describe how they got their most recent job.
I thought it might be helpful to you (whether you’re a man or a women, the same job search strategies can apply to anyone) so I looked up the online edition to post here: http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/job-career
What are your thoughts? How are your job search efforts coming along? Leave a comment below or tweet me on Twitter @NJSocialMedia. Best wishes –Eva
Updated: June 24, 2010
NJ Wired for Hire
For NJ folks seeking employment, a free 10 week program in Flemington NJ is being offered by MGD Services. They are accepting applications for Wired for Hire, which is part of a national program, visit http://mgdservices.com/career-center/candidate-services for details.
Updated: June 11, 2010
I’ve decided to pull the plug on comments and disable the feature because of the extraordinary amount of spam, until further notice. Sorry for any inconvenience! Have a question or want to get profiled on this site? Email editor@njsocialmedia.com – Thanks!
Update: May 31, 2010 by Eva~
As mentioned, one of the features of this section is to profile individuals in NJ who are ready, willing and able to work. Here’s our first Hire Me – NJ profile, Kevin Haughwout (his photo is the one that you see featured in our banner above):
Profile: Kevin Haughwout
Kevin Haughwout is a recent MBA graduate from the New York University Stern School of business. He’s a product developer with five years of experience in client-facing roles working with Fortune-500 retail companies on their point-of purchase marketing activities. He’s also a blogger and social media enthusiast. Check out his blog at http://www.freedmarketer.com for samples of his work and a link to his LinkedIn profile. Kevin’s open to new opportunities in branding or social media marketing. You can reach Kevin by e-mail at kevin @ freedmarketer.com, on Twitter or LinkedIn. (Our previous banner photo courtesy of Kevin Haughwout, who wrote “Hire Me” in bold letters on his business card).
Would you like your profile to be featured? Contact us: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com
Where are the jobs?
Help us develop our local NJ job postings on our site: http://njsocialmedia.com/nj-jobs Would you like to volunteer to help us update the page? Do you know of a job posting to add? Contact us by email: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com
Update: May 22, 2010 by Eva~
What are your thoughts about this article?
How Facebook Helps with Unemployment by John Douglas Marshall from The Atlantic
Leave a comment below with your thoughts or email: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com
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Update: May 13, 2010, 3:00pm by Eva ~
John Lee, CNN’s 30 Second Pitch
I met John Lee at Fair Media Council‘s NJ Connection Day on May 7, 2010 when he spoke on the panel “Pitching TV/Radio Reporters”. I looked up his website for the link to download his free report “How to Pitch TV Reporters“ and saw that he was previously featured on CNN’s 30 Second Pitch segment. I called him up on Wed. 5/12 to ask him about his experience. This is what he shared with me:
John Lee explains:
“CNN’s “The 30 Second Pitch,” is a weekly segment in which three or four folks from around the country get the chance to give their half-minute “elevator pitch” live on TV. I decided to give it a try, pitched myself to “The Pitch” by email: 30secondpitch@cnn.com and one week later was sitting in a studio in CNN’s New York headquarters waiting to go live with anchor Kyra Phillips in Atlanta.
As someone who includes the word “spokesperson” prominently in his resume, I thought the segment might play to my strengths, but recognized that it was a risky maneuver as the segment is live and you have to memorize your pitch—no teleprompter! I also saw it as a chance to seek opportunity, rather than just a job, to show I was open to consulting work and gaining more clients as well as a full-time position.
I used social media to crowdsource presentation advice from my network, to let people know when the segment would air and when I had posted the clip on YouTube.
Here are the results:
If you are able to get on “The 30 Second Pitch” my advice is to practice, practice, practice with a stopwatch, cutting back words and syllables until you have your message down to a comfortable half-minute. As you’d be speaking to a general audience, I’d recommend your goal be to just make a good impression and to leave people with a general sense of what you do, leaving out industry jargon as much as possible.”
Great advice! I’d like to thank John for sharing his experience and wish him the best of luck in his job search.
To reach JOHN LEE
Email: johnlee@johnleemedia.com
Tel. 917-475-6981
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnleemedia
Update: May 13, 2010
Getting a Job Using Social Media
On the NJ Social Media Group Discussion Board on LinkedIn, I posted the following question a few months ago:
Q: Have you landed a full time or part time job through your social media or social network contacts? Leave a comment or contact me directly: editor@njsocialmedia.com for possible inclusion in a future business column. Thanks!
We’d like to thank the following LinkedIn members for their replies and their permission to re-post their responses, which we hope you’ll find helpful in your job search –
Rennie Filler
New Jersey
Online Marketing & Social Media Professional
“I was found on LinkedIn by my childhood friend and neighbor who was looking for someone to direct the social media and online marketing initiative at his company. We lost touch over the years and because of LinkedIn, he was able to gain insight into my professional portfolio and contacted me for an interview. In the end, if it weren’t for LinkedIn, I would not have my current job (that I absolutely love!) and most likely would not have had the opportunity to reconnect with my friend.
Amy Vernon
Union County NJ
Writer, editor and new media strategist. And Bacon Queen
“Every job I’ve gotten since being laid off in December 2008 has been through my social media/networking contacts. I have not sought out a single job yet and have found work – contract, piecework and other – for several friends of mine.”
Timothy Mack
Technical Recruiter at TEKsystems, Inc, Parsippany NJ
“I recently placed a few IT and telecom professionals in permanent sales and engineering roles. The skill sets were as vastly different (Nortel Sales Engineering and UNIX Systems Administration) as the organizations that were hiring (a large Avaya business partner and a global financial firm). I would not have been able to network through the different professional talent pools without the use of LinkedIn. In addition, the last few high-level technical people to contact me directly did so due to my status updates on Twitter. I now find that updating my status on Twitter and LinkedIn is actually highly productive. It only takes a few seconds to do and keeps the positions I’m working on in the public spotlight. Because potential consultants or contractors can see that I’m updating several times a day, they know the positions I’m trying to fill are still open.”
Do you have advice to share or questions about finding a job using social media?
- Would you like your profile featured in this section?
- Interested in being a Guest Writer or Associate Editor of this site?
Email us at: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com or Tel. 973-610-5571 or Twitter: @HireMeNJ
Let us know how we can work together NJ, to get NJ working!
Regards,
Eva Abreu, Publisher – NJSocialMedia.com
What are your thoughts?
Recent USA Today article, May 10, 2010, click link below:
“Today’s job seekers add ‘social’ to networking” by Julia Schmalz
Socialnomics recently released…
an update to their Social Media Revolution 2 video with the following statistics:
80% of companies use social media for recruitment; the percent of those companies that use LinkedIn = 95%
Here’s the updated Socialnomics video, released May 5, 2010:
April 12, 2010
Introducing… Hire Me – NJ!
A new section devoted to individuals in New Jersey who are ready, willing and able to work, and want to let the world know about it through social networking (or in any other way possible, like in the picture above!).
This idea was inspired by a reader of our website who is looking for a full time job in NJ.
He spoke to me offline and suggested having a section for NJ folks to post their resume, network with others, blog about their job hunting experiences and hold tweetups and workshops to support each other in their quest to be gainfully employed.
- What are your thoughts on how to develop Hire Me – NJ?
- What would you like to see within Hire Me – NJ?
- How would you like Hire Me – NJ to be of benefit to you?
- How do you think social media can help to land you a job in New Jersey?
Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below or send an email to: editor {at} njsocialmedia {dot} com.
Let’s work together NJ, to get NJ working!
Regards,
Eva Abreu, Publisher
NJSocialMedia.com
Addendum: Here’s a little more insight on how this section came to be –
The genesis of the idea started on Friday, April 9th, 2010 while waiting at my child’s school for dismissal. Another parent, a graphic designer who previously worked in NYC and has been volunteering to help me with the print publication of NJSocialMedia, came to me with the idea. He is unemployed and said he would like to meet other unemployed people in the area to network with and have a place on the website to post his resume for other employers to see. He felt that job boards such as Monster.com were too big and you get lost there. He wanted to focus on New Jersey, to go to a site where he can connect with potential employers and others who are local. In his words, “If I’m sitting home alone and depressed, and another guy is sitting home alone depressed, and others, why not have everyone get together and lift each other up and see what ideas and leads we can help each other with?” He was inspired with the idea after seeing the NJ Jobs section of our site, which I started back October 2009, and he suggested to name this new section “Hire Me in NJ”; he said “Why not? We’re desperate, we have to be bold.” Plus, he said he didn’t want to commute into New York City any more. He offered to help me with the graphic design once the site was up. I thought it was a great idea, as I was inspired in the past after seeing an idea done in print by a friend of mine, Ron Ostroff, former Operations Manager of the Jewish State, who initiated free ads for unemployed in their newspaper. Another local paper The Crit had done something similar in the past to offer free Work Wanted ads in their classifieds, as well as the Star-Ledger has run profiles of unemployed, and Jack Ellery on WCTC-AM has had unemployed folks call in, as has CNN with it’s 30 Second Pitch segments.
I’ve had it in the back of my mind for a while to develop something like this (I’ve previously managed two temporary employment agencies in the past), so when the acquaintance brought it up, I said I could get it up and running that weekend. We talked about how to monetize the idea (he said, “Well, you can’t do it for free, you have to cover at least some of the costs of running the website”) so we came up with the idea to post free profiles, then, if members finally end up getting a job, they can “donate to the cause” and contribute to our group whatever amount they felt that the group was worth to them during their time of unemployment, as a way to pay it forward. I thought that was a great idea, as I am very much a believer in paying it forward. I then mentioned to him that maybe we could get employers or different services to be paid sponsors as well, for a revenue stream.
So, that’s it in a nutshell. This will be a work in progress. If you’d like to be a part of this start-up process, feel free to contact me. I’m very much into collaboration, partnering, sharing ideas, and shining the spotlight on others to help them reach their goals (or, in this case, land a job). Let’s work together NJ, to help get NJ working!
Best wishes on your job search. Let me know how I can help! ~Eva Abreu
Photo credit: Wonderlane/Flickr Creative Commons
“Hire Gary” Creative Commons Photo by blorntso via Flicker
Eva Abreu is Publisher/Editor of www.NJSocialMedia.com. 
