Get Linked In!

I've talked many, many, many times about the importance of networking. It doesn't matter what industry you are in, networking is going to be part of the job description. But networking isn't just going to events and handing out your business card. There is a new kind of networking in town- social networking. OK, so maybe it isn't new. It has been around quite a few years now.

Social networking can be done a variety of different ways, through a variety of different Web sites. Some of the most-used sites are MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn.

According to its entry on Wikipedia, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site that is mainly used for professional networking. As of February 2009 it had more than 35 million registered users, spanning 170 industries.

LinkedIn is not place to post pictures of your friends and write notes about your recent vacation. It has a more professional feel to it and employers even have the opportunity to post jobs and search for interview candidates based on their profiles.

I encourage everyone out there who is looking for a job or internship to create a LinkedIn profile and start making connections!!

Spring is in the air!

This weekend in Washington was sunny and warm. Tulips are in full bloom- and they are everywhere.

Along with spring comes the end of the semester. Once spring has sprung, it is time to go into panic mode if you don't have a summer job or internship lined up. At least that is how it always was for me. But, don't worry. It's not too late!

I suggest that everyone take a look at the job and internship board at Experience's Home Page. The Experience job board offers multiple different searches and lets you be very specific about what you are looking for in a job.

However, Experience isn't the only place out there to look for summer employment. One of your most important resources when looking for a job in the government is USAJobs.gov. USAJobs.gov is one of the only ways to apply for jobs in the government. It is a complicated process to apply for jobs through the Web site, and it is often very tedious. It is also a very rewarding process and will make you appreciate your interview once you land one (and yes, you will).

It is also important to remember that another very important process to looking for a job is networking. Let everyone you know (family members, professors, etc.) know that you are looking for a job and exactly what you are looking for in a job. You never know how well connected these people are!

In closing I just want to say, good luck, happy job hunting, and enjoy the nice weather!

Keeping Yourself Current

So you have a degree in journalism... And you've recently discovered that you want to work in the government. Well, good news for you!

Anyone thinking about getting a job related to government, should probably be very well educated in current affairs. There are entire agencies devoted to media monitoring that put out reports every morning that outline the news on a specific topic to send to government agencies and other influencial people. One example of this type of agency is Bulletin News, based out of Herndon, Virginia- just minutes from DC.

The way I look at it, journalism is the universal degree. Now, I might just be saying that because my degree is in journalism, but I really think it is true! At least when it comes to government jobs.

For example, most jobs require you to be good at communicating and writing. Guess, what journalists have spent the past 4 years learning how to write and be good at communicating. They have spent many months learning about specific things to write good, informative news articles and along the way have learned many, valuable things! Now, I'm not saying having a journalism degree makes you any better or more marketable than people with other degrees, but I think it makes you more versatile, depending on your internship path or work experience of course.

Ok, so maybe I don't know what I am talking about when it comes to this. I could be totally wrong. But one thing I do know is that keeping up with the news, whether it by listening to NPR every morning, reading the front page of the paper or getting news on the internet, keeping up with what is happening around the world is very imporant. Especially when working for the government.