Should Google hire this mustachioed self-promoter? – Technically Incorrect
Now, as this Technically Incorrect blog post recognises, the video CV can be a polarising platform. Is it a creative, confident way to showcase your skills in a job market drowning in dull CVs? Or, frankly, just a bit cringeworthy? This video CV by Matthew Epstein is a bizarre blend of the two. It’s also pretty funny.
Google should hire him. And if they don’t, someone else almost certainly will; he’s had some serious exposure from this – 344,350 YouTube views and counting.
Do check out Matthew’s personal site too: Google Please Hire Me.
How to start your own non-profit – Lindsey Pollack’s blog
This week, I’ve luckily discovered the “next generation careers expert” Lindsey Pollack’s blog. Here you can find a mix of interviews with professionals and advice for graduates. I particularly liked this recent blog post which contains an interview from a successful and inspiring ‘Gen Y’ entrepreneur. The key piece of advice from Tammy Tibbets, founder of She’s the First, is to get experience working or volunteering for a non-profit to learn how these organisations work.
I’d also recommend wading through the archive of Lindsey’s blog. Here I discovered another useful ‘Getting started on LinkedIn‘ piece which include this catchy tip: “LinkedIn doesn’t work unless you work it.”
12 ways to develop your brand-power – Career Realism
For anyone tiring of talk about personal branding, the message from this Career Realism blog by Deborah Shane is don’t – it’s here to stay!
As someone who’s just starting to build their ‘personal brand’ (you may remember my confession from a previous Grad Links of not being on LinkedIn yet) these quick pointers were handy and included one refreshingly-light idea: “Be fun and have a sense of humour”
At first this seemed unprofessional, but on second thoughts I realised why it had been included. With so much to think about during a job interview, it’s hard to remember that the employer will be considering you as a person. Aside from your skills and potential value to the company, could the employer work with you and do they want to?
Tips for handling second interviews – Adventures of the job search ninja blog
As an undergraduate, I can’t say I’ve given much thought to second interviews – I’m yet to get to the first interview stage. But, as most of the graduate career advice out there focuses on which career path to take, applications, and the first interview, it’s interesting and useful to see something about reaching the coveted next stage.
Here, blogger Todd Bavol offers some taster insights into second interviews including; expect to be asked tougher questions that require more detail and that the biggest mistake you can make is to relax and think you have it in the bag.
Now in the last Grad Links, we showcased the rather polished website-CV Celine is Looking for a Fashion Job. But a far more subversive site has come to our attention this week.
While satirically documenting their own job application misadventures, anonymous blogger BENEDICT XX XXXXXX [sic] also uses their writing skills to lampoon tired career cliches and poke fun at job seeking jargon.
But the real highlight here is the masterfully-written and deliciously-acerbic ‘The CV’ page which reminded us of Hunter S Thompson and his infamous application letter for the Vancouver Sun.
