Martine Rolls: Online help for job hunters

The Tauranga Careers Expo was on earlier this week and when I drove past the QEII Youth Centre on my way to work on Monday morning,
I thought back to when I was looking for something to do for the rest of my working life.
After high school I took a few years off to work in hospitality and travel around Europe. I had an awesome time and there is certainly something to say for gaining life skills and becoming street-wise but, by the time I was 23, I realised I needed to stop bumming around and find a more serious direction.
It was time to get a proper education, followed by a proper job. Deciding on what to study wasn't easy. There were so many options and I had plenty of interests but no real skills besides writing a bit and talking a lot.
I took some time to look at all that was available, picked something I thought I could handle, enrolled and got accepted. Four interesting years later I had degrees in journalism and communications. Soon after, I was hired as a reporter for a regional newspaper, the start of an invigorating career.
If you or your kids are at that early stage of study orientation, browsing the internet can help your research. Then again, there is so much information online that it can be confusing and off-putting. Why not start with studyzone.co.nz? It's a well designed, easy to navigate website on which you'll find plenty of answers on all things tertiary.
My suggestion is to start the search early, narrow it down, then order or download and print the prospectus from your shortlisted options. Think about it carefully as you don't want to end up like so many others with a hefty student loan and job options that are not right for you.
If you are past all that and job-hunting at the moment, then, of course, you can start by checking the employment section in the Bay of Plenty Times or check job sites like Seek, Trade Me Jobs and myjobspace.co.nz for vacancies.
But why follow tradition? Have you thought about using network-ing sites and social media to get the job you want?
Learn as much as you can about the companies you are interested in. It will enhance your chances in interviews. Also use search engines to find out about the people who work there and see if the key people are on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
Social media has broken down barriers. You can message someone even if you aren't Facebook friends with them.
A smart professional profile on LinkedIn can increase your opportunities and, with a cleverly constructed tweet, you can show a potential employer how creative you are.
Just make sure your own profiles are up to date and clean them up if need be. Photos of you drunk at a party or in your togs at the beach won't be helpful.
Then there is another way and it's all about profiling yourself. You can use social media to build a personal brand to help you attract job opportunities. How to do this? Think as a content producer instead of a consumer. There are plenty of ways to do this on the web, one of which is to launch a blog about your expertise and passions. It might take time, but it could be the way to nail your dream job.
If you are in a hurry to find work, need help with your presentation, or if you're just not that savvy with blogs and social media, you could take a look at careers.govt.nz. It explains how to write a great CV and has interesting tips on how to "sell yourself" in an interview. This site is also very handy if you are changing your career. It even has templates of resignation letters.
There are plenty of interactive tools to be found here, such as a skill matcher and CareerQuest, available in English and te reo Maori. The tool I liked best is the Work in Life tool. It assesses how well your life is balanced between work and other important aspects of living.
For someone like me, juggling fulltime work with two young children plus dealing with freelance work, a social media addiction and an active social life, it can be a bit much at times. That's why I always schedule in me-time. Even just 10 minutes of time-out every now and again or skipping the housework after a busy week, those little breaks give me a much needed chance to recharge.