One of my favorite things about social media is that it opens the world up like never before. It makes it easy to find and communicate with people anywhere in the world. It also opens you up to meeting and engaging with people you would have never had the chance to before it's invention. It makes the previously impossible possible.

Because the possibilities are endless through this new medium, I decided to try and make the best of that situation. You may be asking yourself what exactly I mean by that? Well let me explain a bit.

Last week I decided to update my Twitter bio. I didn't change it all that much, I just added the simple line "seeking work" after where I stated I'm a Master in Professional Communication. Doesn't seem like a life changing event, I know, but perhaps it could be.

I know the first thing I do when I get a friend request on twitter is I go look at the persons bio. I'm sure most other self respecting twitter users do the same. I also get added by a lot of social media and PR types, which just happen to be the fields I'm interested in working in. So, I figured if these people are going to look at my bio, why not let them know that I'm currently seeking a position? What's the worst that can happen, someone may know of something for me??

As well, while it may seem like some sort of strange self-promotion (and I suppose in a way it kind of is) I also try to mention in some way or another everyday on twitter that I'm on the hunt for a job. I don't ask people to throw things at me, but just because of the relationships I've managed to build with some people they do, and greatly appreciate it.

The way I see it, we've all used social media to connect with people we never would have had access to before, be it celebs, the upper-executives in companies, other people in our industries from all corners of the world, and we did it for many reasons. One of the main ones I did it for was because I love to network. I love to meet and talk to new people (both on and offline). If one of those people wants to help me out, I say let them. I'm always willing to lend a hand and help others out as well if I can.

I'm not going around begging for people to help me, but just by letting some people know what I'm doing they're willing to help me out out of their own good nature, and I love that. So I figure, why not let everyone know what I'm up to?? Some people will act on it and some won't, but it never hurts to try.

I also encourage others to do the same. I can't even remember how many times I've seen a random tweet about someone looking for something or having an interest in something and I've had links to point them towards. Half the time it's people I've barely even interacted with.

Social media is here to be social with, so why shouldn't we?

Has social media helped you accomplish things you may not have been able to before?? Please, share some stories in the comments section or just leave a message if you have something to say about my thought process here.

Last week I had an interesting experience on my hunt for a career. I had my first ever encounter with head-hunters (the business kind).

For those who don't know, head-hunters are kind of like an outsourced HR department. Companies have positions to fill and rather than do it themselves they find a head-hunting firm and ask them to find suitable candidates for them. It is also my understanding that job-seekers can also use head-hunters to help place them into the jobs they're looking for, but I don't know if that happens as often. Anyways, my experience deals with the former.

I'm not going to mention any names here, although I'm sure they wouldn't mind, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Here's my experience:

A friend who knows that I'm looking for work heard (really saw) someone tweet about a position he thought I may like and passed it along to me. I messaged the original tweeter and found out that he works for a head-hunting company (they call themselves "executive search and recruitment" but it's the same difference). I sent my resume out to this person and the next day he called and asked me if I could swing by their office later that afternoon. I said yes, despite being unprepared (or dressed) for an interview that day.

When I got there the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than most interviews I had been to in the past. They said that this was more of a "get-to-know-me" type thing than an interview. They just wanted to get a feel for me to see if I was the right fit for this position they were trying to fill.

So, we chatted for a while. Both about job and non-job related things. I felt very comfortable during the whole thing, which is strange for me because interviews usually make me really nervous for no real reason.

Eventually I got to also meet the account holder for the position they were talking to me about, who was also nice. They gave me some tips on how to change my resume to more suit what their client was looking for, which I thought was amazing and very different than anything I was used to. I assume they did that because they liked me and wanted to pass me along to their client (but lets not get my hopes up).

I changed my resume to their specifications over the weekend and they told me it was much better (I liked my other one better, but they're the experts). So now I must play the waiting game.

Overall, my first experience with being head-hunted was really good. Whether I get the job is another story though.

I would now even consider possibly trying to find myself a head-hunter that will help me find the perfect job for me rather than waiting to be head-hunted for a job.

What are your thoughts on head-hunters?? Have you ever used one to hire someone or find yourself a job? Have you ever been head-hunted? Do you think it would be a good course of action if I tried to find one to help me find myself the perfect job?
Let me know in the comments section.

The title of this post may be a little deceiving. There should actually be a question mark at the end of that title because this is not a "how-to" post, but more of another one of my many questions.

As you may know from reading my blog or following me on Twitter or even just knowing me, I'm heavy into the social media uprising. I'm not one of those people who claims to be a "social media expert" or "guru", but I do think that I have a pretty good handle on the medium and genuine interest in it.

I would like to be able to incorporate my love of this new "buzz" medium into anything I do in the PR/communications field. In fact, that's probably good because a lot of companies are seeing its potential and looking for people who understand how to best use social media to their advantage.

I'd like to be one of those people.

Here's my dilemma though: how do I add social media experience into my resume when I really have no "experience" in the traditional business sense??

I have been heavily involved in the social media scene, especially here in Toronto, for well over a year and half and think that people would agree that I pretty much know what I'm talking about. As well, while in PR school I tried to incorporate social media strategies and tactics into my projects as much as possible. Most of these projects seemed to go over fairly well.

Now how can I incorporate that into my resume??

My resume currently highlights different skills I learned in school, such as different forms of PR and communication writing, but I didn't actually learn any social media or writing for the web while in school. Some of my larger communications plans would incorporate social media, but how can I say that when I already have just communications plans down?

I enjoy a good creative writing challenge, so I'm looking forward to trying to find a way to squeeze my social media "experience" onto my resume. However, I'm always willing to take some advice from experts on the fields of PR, social media or even resumes.

As always, comments thoughts and opinions on the matter are both welcomed and encouraged below.

So, a lot of people may not agree with my thoughts on this subject (I know because I've read a lot of blogs, articles and books that don't) but this is my opinion anyways.

I'm fine with prospective employers looking at my facebook.

I thought about this because last year a friend of mine in law school was applying for his summer articling student position and while doing so he completely changed around his facebook. He made the security extra secure on it and even removed his wall altogether. When I asked him why he did this, he said, "because I'm trying to get a job right now." This made no sense to me.

I'm fine with prospective employers looking at my facebook.

I'm not going to completely change around the way I live my life just because I'm looking for a job right now. I've even thought about why I wouldn't change my facebook.

For starters, I have a certain level of security on my facebook already. Most things on my facebook can only be viewed by people I've accepted as friends. To that, I also know that most of my friends on facebook are or were real friends of mine anyways. I'm not one of those people who will just add everyone and anyone. For me, facebook is a place for me to stay connected with actual friends. Any other social network I'm open to adding anyone that may grab my interest. I may even add you to facebook after we've bonded on another social network. But, if we're not really friends, we probably won't be facebook friends.

Second, I'm not ashamed of my life. In fact, I'm quite proud of it. Yes, I sometimes have stupid status updates, but that's my personal brand of humor. I'll probably say dumb stuff like that in real life too. I don't (really) do anything that would be considered evil or against the law, so there'll be no pictures of me doing such things. Sure, they might be some pictures of me with a drink or cigarette in my hand, but I do drink alcohol sometimes and I do smoke (although I'm trying to quit, but that's a completely different story) and I'm not ashamed about either. I'm not going to pretend like I don't do those things just because I want a job. Chances are if I did pretend I didn't, my new employer will be disappointed when they find out that I do.

Lastly, I do have some friends who can sometimes write dumb things on my wall. Truthfully, I do the same to them. That's what friends do, they joke around with one another. Chances are my future employer will have friends that do the same to them, so they should be just as ashamed of their friends as I am of mine.

So go ahead prospective employer - creep my facebook. I have nothing to hide from you. I am who I am, and I'm proud of who I am.

Now some may argue with my logic, and I invite you to do so.
Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the subject of facebook while looking for a job, I'd love to hear what others think.

To bring people up to speed, I just spent the last month in Thailand and Laos after completing my masters down in Australia. Now I'm back in my home town of Toronto and ready to get my life going again.

While I was travelling though, I couldn't help but wonder (and maybe worry a bit) about my future. I just spent the last year and half learning for my new profession, public relations. Now it's time that I need to put all that learning to good use and get myself a job. The problem is, I have so many questions about this new life of mine.

When you decide that you want to do something like PR there are many subsequent questions that come up that I now have to weigh options on and make some serious decisions.

• What kind of PR do I want to do?
• Do I want to work for a specific company?
• Do I want to work for a government agency?
• Do I want to work for a large PR firm or a small boutique agency?
• Do I want to specialize in social media (which I do seem to favour) or do I want to try and encompass many faculties of the industry?
• If I do want to specialize in social media, how can I put my expertise onto a resume despite my lack of actual social media work experience? (a full blog post on this subject will follow soon)
• Because I got my masters, should I still be looking for internships or can I just try to find a real job out the starting gate?
• What's the best way to go about finding myself a PR job?
  

And those are just a few of the questions I have racing through my mind right now.

Lucky for me though, I'm not currently unemployed while I try to answer these questions. I was very fortunate that my father's company needed some help, so I'm working, but it is not in my chosen profession. I will however be trying to answer these questions and find a job in my chosen profession while I still make a little bit of money.

I'd like to hear what other people may think about some of my questions here. Especially if you're a seasoned PR vet, I'd love to know what you think about some of these things. So please leave a comment here because any form of guidance I can get would make my day.

Also, keep your eyes here and watch for this blog to become much more active as I settle back into real life.