Finding an Internship or a Job: Using Twitter Revisited

On Monday I posted about using http://Twitter.com to research internship possibilities and described the Twitter client application Summize. Such is the speed of the internet that this info was out of date just as I posted. Because, also on Monday, Twitter announced it had just acquired Summize and that the URL for this feature is now http://search.twitter.com.

You can access this function without a free Twitter account. So if you want to see what people are saying on Twitter about a certain subject, go ahead and type in the subject and see what tweets pop up. (I just put in the word internships and got some interesting tweets.)

And for the last two days I’ve been trying out http://twhirl.org after MaryPat Kavanagh (www.queenofmarketing.com) advised me that she uses Twhirl to access Twitter. (Twhirl is a desktop client for Twitter based on the Adobe AIR platform, which I downloaded for free.)

At the moment I’m of two opinions about Twhirl: On the one hand I like the pop-up tweets that appear in the bottom right-hand corner of my computer screen whenever anyone I’m following posts a tweet. On the other hand I get distracted from what I’m doing by reading those pop-up tweets. So for now the jury is still out on what I think of this client application.

And here’s a Twitter feature I’ve just started using – http://twitter.com/direct_messages. It’s when you want to tweet someone on Twitter but you don’t want everyone following you and following the tweet receiver to be able to read the tweet. I’m using the direct messages feature to send my primary email address to someone with whom I’ve been exchanging tweets on a specific topic.

Okay, I’ve now given you more research tools for finding contacts for internships and jobs. Let me know if you use these tools and if they help lead you to what you want to find.

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Internships: Using Twitter to Research Internship Possibilities

Internships to follow a passion or to check out possible career paths are a big part of the FLIPPING BURGERS philosophy. I’ve always advised researching possibilities by brainstorming with friends, family and mentors and by talking to people you know and people who know people you know.

Now I’ve been giving some thought as to how to utilize social media networks to research possible internships. Below is an example using the free microblogging site www.Twitter.com.

Let’s suppose someone who we’ll call Laura wants an internship with an internet marketing company. And she knows the name of one company in her hometown that offer internet marketing services. (She knows this because she’s been keeping notes on companies she runs across that might be of interest to her.)

Laura is already registered on Twitter. First she goes to www.Summize.com (an application for Twitter) and puts in the words internet marketing. Up pop tweets (the 140 character messages on Twitter) that mention these two words.

Laura reads the tweets and clicks through to the blog posts whose URLs are in the tweets. This is background information to help her learn more about internet marketing.

Then she goes directly to Twitter and searches on the words internet marketing. Up pop profiles of people on Twitter whose bio or other profile info mentions internet marketing. Laura reads these profiles and chooses some to follow on Twitter.

And then she searches on the name of the president of the internet marketing company in her hometown and comes up with nothing. Next she searches on the company name. And, hooray, she has struck gold! A profile pops up identifying the profiled person as a vice president at the local internet marketing company. Laura hasn’t run across his name before on the company’s website or in a Google search. Maybe he’s new?

Now she can send him a tweet directly through Twitter. And because Twitter is direct communication of only 140 characters (no emails to click open), it’s very likely that the VP will see the tweet and respond to her.

Of course Laura will have to figure out how to write a compelling message in only 140 characters. Yet given the conversational tone of tweets, she can say something along the lines of: Love to meet with you about possible internship. I’m 3 miles away from your office.

The VP getting this tweet can click on Laura’s Twitter profile, and if she’s used her brief profile effectively, there should be enough info for the VP to consider meeting with her.

Thanks to Laura using Twitter, this approach has a much better chance of success than submitting a cover letter with a regular resume and hoping that the assistant to the VP will even show the query to the VP. (And in addition, at this moment in Twitter’s existence, there’s a certain “club” atmosphere with the other people on Twitter. So Laura is already put in a more favorable light by having used Twitter to approach the VP.)

Do you have other examples of how you can use social media networks to pursue internships or jobs?

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Asking for Something: What’s in It for the Other Person?

I’ve been listening to several teleseminars about using social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter for business purposes. The basic premise is that people do business with people they know, like and trust.

According to several of these teleseminars, there’s another premise that should be considered when you are trying to get someone to do something you want or to buy from you. What’s in it for the other person?

Okay, you may be saying. But what does this have to do with college applications, internships, jobs and careers? Let’s look at these topics:

College applications: When you are preparing to write college-application essays you should be thinking: What do I have to offer the colleges to which I’m applying? Sure, you’ve already thought about what the colleges have to offer you as you made a tentative list. But now you have to switch your mindset:

Have I followed my passion during high school so that I have something interesting to add to the freshman class? Something that will contribute to the range of college life? Or am I one of thousands of high school students whose main resume items are class president, high school soccer team, worked as a camp counselor during the summer, got good grades and good SATs?

Internships: When you’re ready to apply for internships you should be thinking: What do I have to offer these companies to which I’m applying? Again, you’ve already thought about what the companies have to offer you. Now switch your mindset:

Have I demonstrated any interest before in the kind of work the company does? Can I get a letter of recommendation from someone that I have demonstrated such an interest before? Have I presented myself to the company in emails and phone calls in such a way that the company will understand that I could be an asset as an intern instead of a drag on training time because I don’t even know how to write a professional email or speak on the phone in a business-like manner?

Got the idea? And the same concept is applicable to looking for a job and for looking for a position in a career path.

When you want college admission offices or internship, job or career possibilities to seriously consider you, take the time to prepare yourself so that you can present yourself in a way that demonstrates convincingly that there’s something in it for them.

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Internship: A Golden Opportunity If You Know How to Spin Gold Out of Straw

The playbill for the 2008 “Free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park” (Los Angeles) by the Independent Shakespeare Company (www.independentshakespeare.com) listed the company members for the production of HENRY IV (parts 1 and 2). I noted the last item on the company list – intern – and a male name. Yes, I said to myself, someone is getting a chance to follow his passion.

Now I don’t know whether this particular passion is acting or directing or stage management or theater company management. But I do know that someone is getting to see a theater production up close and personal. And whether this bird’s eye view encourages the intern to continue pursuing his passion – or turns him off forever to anything connected with the theater – the intern should be able to avoid regrets of never trying to follow his passion.

And while I also can’t know what the HENRY IVth intern is doing for the production, I read with interest Erin Chambers’ Wall Street Journal July 1^st article “Tips to Make the Most of Summer Internships.” In general I agreed with many of the tips, which are as true for paying jobs as they are for unpaid internships.

I disagreed with the information under the heading “Don’t get discouraged.” Here’s what Chambers wrote: “If it’s been a few weeks, and you’re still just making photocopies, don’t fret – or complain. Request a meeting with your supervisor to ask about new projects.”

In many industries an internship is exactly that – making photocopies. But what goes along with making photocopies is usually the ability to read anything you’re handed to photocopy:

• If you’re handed an office memo to photocopy, read it to learn how office memos are written. (Obviously you don’t repeat what you’re read.)

• If you’re handed movie scripts to photocopy (entertainment industry), ask if it is okay to make a copy for yourself to read. (Again, obviously you don’t show this to anyone else outside the office.)

A summer spent photocopying may seem dull. Yet if you’ve made the best use of your time – such as carefully paying attention to what goes on around you concerning office politics – you will have learned a great deal of valuable information for your future path. Plus you may get enough insight to know whether you want to consider pursuing a career path in this field.

Good interns take lemons if that’s what they’re handed and make lemonade for their own learning experience. And those same good interns often get great letters of recommendation because they were team players and didn’t expect entitlements. (A relative of mine works with interns at a large company and told me he’s constantly surprised by the sense of entitlement the interns have.)

If there were an intern bill of rights, it would state:

• You are not promised to get to do fascinating and challenging tasks at the workplace.

• You are promised to learn a great deal if you keep your eyes and ears open.

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Public-Service Agencies Offer Unique Opportunities for College Graduates

Volunteering as a way to check out possible career paths is something I often discuss. Yet, after reading The Wall Street Journal’s July 3rd Careers article “Altruism Meets a Weak Job Market” by Anne Marie Chaker, I wanted to talk about a different kind of “volunteering” as a way to do good and, at the same time, increase one’s transportable skills.

First, what do I mean by transportable skills? If you have learned how to help get consensus in a sub-Sahara African village between members of different tribes, you probably can help get consensus between two different factions of a corporate argument.

The Journal article cites rising college graduate interest in such public-service agencies as:

· Teach for America (www.teachforamerica.org)

· Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov)

· WorldTeach (www.worldteach.org)

· AmeriCorps (www.americorps.org)

While young people volunteer (apply) for positions with these agencies, this isn’t, strictly speaking, volunteering because there is some form of payment, depending on the agency. And there are often other benefits, such as education awards, access to alum of these programs, and career advice. (These positions are for a definite period of time – usually between one to two years.)

Yet, for the most part, young people who sign up for these public-service stints “volunteer” to teach in low-income public schools or in African villages without plumbing or in impoverished rural areas in the U.S.

If you want to share your expertise with people less fortunate than yourself, consider applying for a position through a public-service agency. Who knows? This new path may lead you to a future you otherwise never would have considered.

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Creating Workplace Opportunities: Going for the Gold

Creating your own opportunities for internships and jobs is a topic about which I frequently blog. And the following story is a great example of creating your own opportunity.

Jane (not the person’s real name) spotted a job opening at a major computer software company. She didn’t have any of the requirements listed for the job except she knew she had the contacts and skills to achieve the desired end result. And she really wanted that job.

Knowing she wouldn’t get an interview based on her resume, she used her contacts to convince the company to fly her out for an interview for the position, for which the company had been looking for eight months for the right person to hire.

At the interview she said that the reason the company hadn’t been able to hire anyone was that the company sought the wrong requirements. In fact, it was her skill set that was needed to get the job done. And after a few more interviews (flying back and forth between the coasts), she got the job.

Of course, the contacts she used to get the first interview had been nurtured for a long time. And when she went in for the several interviews, I’m sure she was dressed appropriately, had the correct body posture, handshake, etc. I also know she is very careful about what she puts on her Facebook profile and other social media networking sites.

The moral of this story? If there’s a job you really want and you believe you can achieve the desired end result, do not be put off by a list of job requirements that you do not have. If you know that those requirements are not truly needed to do the job and that you have other skills that are needed, go for it. The job you win may be the one you’ve always wanted.

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Volunteering for College Applications – and for Life

Most high school students applying to college know that volunteering activities are important to have on their resumes. Yet, as with everything else on a good resume, there’s volunteering and there’s volunteering.

It’s easy, for example, to volunteer to help with a food collection drive sponsored by your high school. Any student can do that simply by signing up and following through.

Yet, for the other kind of volunteering, what about coming up with a volunteer project yourself that demonstrates initiative, creativity and results?

As described in my post today at www.dogooderscrooge.blogspot.com, I’ve just returned from the Philadelphia wedding of my nephew. It was a lovely, lovely wedding, and I cried as the bride and groom stood under the chupah. Yet I also cried much later in the evening – while a fantastic band played – when I opened the wedding guest gift:

Each guest received a gift certificate for $18 (in Hebrew 18 represents chai – life) to www.donorschoose.org – a nonprofit website where “public school teachers submit proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn.” And then donations bring these dreams to life.

At the wedding I talked to my nephew about the gift certificates. He said he and his bride-to-be had been thinking of giving each guest a $10 gift when they realized what they could do with a different kind of wedding guest gift.

This morning I went to www.donorschoose.org/gift to redeem my gift certificate. There were so many good projects from which to choose. And any of these projects could be the basis of initiating your own volunteer project.

Example of creating your own volunteer project

Let’s suppose you read the following project listed at www.donorschoose.org/gift

Pushing Our Way into Literacy: Book Carts For the Classroom

Last week was Teen Read Week. The media specialist and I created a book cart around the theme Get Active and visited 28 classrooms during the week. With each class, we did a book pass of books we thought would be high interest reads for the students and then allowed them to check out books. During the week, there was a 280% increase in the number of books checked out. We received an overwhelmingly positive response from the staff as well, who reported that for the first time their students were reading.

We would now like to purchase a number of carts to create themed book mobiles for teachers to check out. We know that reading comprehension is the most critical component of student education, and placing high interest reads into the hands of our kids is the key to developing that comprehension.

I need two book carts to enable me to provide high interest young adult reading materials to the students in my school. The cost of this proposal is $833, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

You could take this idea and brainstorm with friends, family, teachers or mentors how to adapt to your own community. Maybe you and three friends could make presentations in classrooms of your favorite books, and your enthusiasm could ignite the interest of students who normally don’t read books.

Or you and three friends could raise money to send to www.donorschoose.org to support this project. And you could offer to send a letter about books you enjoy to the project creator to share with the school’s students.

If you’re going to spend time volunteering – make that volunteer time truly count. Start a new volunteer project that shows your initiative, creativity and commitment.

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