JobMob

Top 50 Online Freelance Marketplaces That Cost Nothing To Use

Jacob Share — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:01:29 +0000

These are the most popular FREE freelance marketplaces on the Web according to the Alexa ranking system.

Unless mentioned otherwise, any site listed here is free to use, whether to post jobs or to apply for them, and is in English. The list also mentions site specialties where relevant.

1) Elance.com – general

2) Suite101.com – writing

3) odesk.com – general

4) GetAFreelancer.com – SEO, writing, programming, design, marketing

5) rentacoder.com – programming, graphic design, writing, translation

6) ScriptLance.com – programming

7) Guru.com – general

8) proz.com – translation, interpreting

9) 99designs.com – design

10) mediabistro.com – writing/editing, production, graphic design, publishing

11) freelanceswitch.com – general

12) getacoder.com – web design, writing, programming, legal

13) limeexchange.com – writing, translation, graphic and web design, web development, networking, programming

14) taskcity.com – programming

15) ifreelance.com – proofreading, arts, data entry, graphic design, photography, bookkeeping

16) peopleperhour.com – programming, design, administrative tasks, accounting, PR

17) freelancewritinggigs.com – writing

18) eufreelance.com – programming, web design, writing, development

19) Freelance.nl – Dutch, general

20) gofreelance.com – general

21) freelancedesigners.com – web and graphic design, programming, photography, writing, fashion design, industrial design, video production, advertising, logo design

22) freelancer.co.uk – programming, web and graphic design, SEO, writing, translation, interpreting

23) project4hire.com – programming, translation, consulting, graphic design

24) freelancers.net – general

25) trabajofreelance.com – Spanish, general

26) freelance.com – general

27) freelanceindia.com – general

28) freelancewriting.com – writing

29) contractedwork.com – general

30) freelance-info.fr – French, consulting

31) genuinejobs.com – telecommuting

32) directfreelance.com – writing, graphic design, programming

33) allfreelance.com – general

34) seed.com – writing, photography

35) freelancejobsearch.com – web & graphic design, photography

36) xplace.com – design, programming, writing, editing, translation, marketing, photography

37) bizreef.com – writing, programming, graphic design, marketing, translation, photography

38) freelancefree.com – general

39) itmatchonline.com – general

40) noagenciesplease.com – general

41) freelancesuccess.com – writing

42) governmentbids.com – general

43) outsourcexp.com – SEO, engineering, administrative tasks, marketing, writing, databases, graphic and web design, programming

44) freelanceprojectupdates.com – general

45) programmingbids.com – programming, databases, graphic design

46) maglance.com – programming

47) outsourcetoday.net – programming, databases, design

48) freelanceauction.com – programming, design

49) writerlance.com – writing

50) freelance-informatique.fr – French, general

If you liked this article, you’ll enjoy One of The Most Common Positive Trends Among Job Seekers Today.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more funny tips on good decisions for your future.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

9 Best Practices For Turning Online Job Openings Into Job Offers

All Ages Job Fair in Jerusalem, Wednesday February 10th 2010

Jacob Share — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:19:02 +0000

Hiring companies, speakers and expert counselors will be at your service as Merkaz Hamagshimim Hadassah and AACI put on their first job fair since 2007.

Update 05/02/10: Shira from the Mercaz sent me the list of companies that are supposed to be at the fair, see below.

Who

From the official release:

“For job seekers in all fields (computers, science, medicine, teachers, researchers, pr, admin, engineers, tour guides, translators, etc), as well as students, those who recently completed the army, new and veteran olim, and Israelis, English, Hebrew, and other language speakers alike.”

What

Approximately 30 companies from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in the following fields:

Hi-tech
Technical writing
Bio-tech
Marketing/PR
Education/hadracha
Law
Accounting
Non-profits
Engineering
and more…

And those companies are:

Connect
Hever
JVP Software Incubator
Animation Lab
LawJobs
Morningside Translations
Jedi Media Group
Shorashim
CSWW
Maof
FXCM
VerNet
CheckMarx
Upsider
Relocation jobs
RE/MAX Vision
Dialect
Worldwide Jobs
Stern Engineering
Etgar
Matan media
NFTY
Etz Hadat
H. Stern Jewelers
Ramada Jerusalem Hotels
Quest
Pareto
Eteacher
Marksman
Net translators
משטרת עיר העתיקה
IBC
Berlitz
LEAP
The Jerusalem Post
ACTL

There will also be “career counselors, resume writing assistance, and lectures on the job market in Israel, job hunting, and other related topics. Information and resources for start-ups, small businesses and entrepreneurs. We will also have job boards with postings of open positions in a variety of professional fields.”

Scheduled Speakers

5:15 pm – “Self Employed in Israel”, Ran Afek of Israel Business Connection
6:15 pm – “Hi Tech in Israel”, Jacob Richman of CJI
7 pm – “Tailoring One’s Job Search for Israel”, Nat Gordon of Marksman International Personnel
8 pm – “Networking via LinkedIn”, Ron Machol of Israemploy

Where

Mercaz Hamagshimim-Hadassah
Beit ArEl, 8 Gad St. (the old Ulpan Etzion)
Baka, Jerusalem
Map
Bus – use the excellent Jlembusmap.com (click ‘Baka’ in the left sidebar) to find your bus. Lines 7, 21 and 21A have the closest stops but the many buses along Derech Chevron or Emek Refaim are only an extra few minutes’ walk.

Entry is FREE

For more information, call Shira at 052-6039116 or email meida [at] themerkaz.org

When

Wednesday, February 10th, 5-9 pm

Why

To submit resumes (have copies with you!)
To show off your networking skills and meet company rep.s, to follow-up with on email and social media
To learn about job search from the speakers and get advice from experts

I will also be there with a table to meet job seekers and answer job search questions. Come by and say hi, it’s always nice to meet in person.

DON’T FORGET: as usual, remember to read my 35+ Job Fair Success Do’s and Don’ts a few days beforehand.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more important events to attend in your Israeli job search.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

Free Haifa Seminar for People Wanting To Transition Into High Tech Careers on March 2nd 2010

Jacob Share — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:47:36 +0000

Microsoft Israel is sponsoring a free employment seminar with the Haifa Municipality aimed at people who would like to get into high tech in Israel.

Who

The event is aimed “academics, engineers and students” who are interested in joining the “computers and high tech” industry.

What

According to the official announcement, the event’s schedule runs from 4:30 pm until 8:15 pm, including speakers from Microsoft Israel (What Will the World Look Like in 15 years?), AllJobs (Transitioning into the World of High Tech), and others.

Possibly the most interesting part will be the final panel involving the speakers discussing job search topics.

Then there will also be a prize drawing of an XBOX 360 at the end of the evening.

Where

Microsoft Israel
Building 21, Haifa MATAM Industrial Park
Map
Train: Hof Ha-Carmel, then a 5-10 minute walk

Entry is free.

The official announcement asks you to register in advance but if for some reason you just decide to come at the last in minute, I’m sure they’ll let you in (if there’s room; you never know with these things…).

If you do register in advance, just be careful to UNCHECK the box beneath the registration form so that you don’t inadvertently sign up to get spam from Microsoft and other companies involved in the event. Unless of course you like spam :)

When

Tuesday, March 2nd 2010, 4:30 pm – 8:15 pm

Why

This will be a well-coordinated event put together by a bunch of organizations with complementary offerings to sell you. That said, it is a free event and it does sound like you will learn some things about the Israeli high tech job market, regardless of whether or not you’d like to sign up for a programming course or work in the Haifa MATAM industrial park.

Plus, these kinds of events can be a great place to network with other job seekers, and frankly, they’re also a good chance to do something different than job search online all day.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more announcements of Israeli employment seminars.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

On Personal Brand Destruction, Hockey and the 2010 Winter Olympics

Jacob Share — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:00:28 +0000

How you take rejection can determine whether or not you’ll need to do so again.

The story begins when…

A really interesting personal branding-related story took place on the road to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and as an avid hockey fan, I’m glad to have finally found a way to sneak my love of hockey into an article here for you.

It all began when national hockey team rosters were announced, deciding which lucky few would get to represent one of the 12 national teams that qualified for the men’s ice hockey event.

Each team is allowed to choose a selection of 23 forwards, defencemen and goalies and as you can imagine, the best players per country are the ones most likely to be chosen. Even with 12 teams competing, that still means a lot of terrific players around the world aren’t going to go.

So let’s look at how some of those terrific players reacted when they found out they aren’t going to go.

How they reacted

Montreal Canadien and former NHL All-star Scott Gomez was hoping to make the USA hockey team but didn’t. Mikael Samuelsson of the Vancouver Canucks was hoping to make the Swedish hockey team but also didn’t. The similarities end there though.

Here was Gomez’s reaction in the press: “It is what it is… you get the call, you realize it, you move on and focus more on here. It wasn’t meant to be. Congratulations to the guys who made it. You just wish them the best of luck and hope the U.S.A. brings the gold.”

Here was Samuelsson’s reaction in the press: “I pretty much have one comment and maybe I’ll regret it, but they can go [expletive] themselves. That’s what I really think.”

The kicker: the teams can change their rosters up until Feb. 15th in case players get injured in the meantime so theoretically, both Gomez and Samuelsson – who won gold in hockey for Sweden in 2006 – could still be invited to their respective national teams. Based on their reactions however, who do you think will have a better chance of actually getting invited if the hour of need arises?

Why would Samuelsson burn his bridges like that?

This reminds me of a recruiter’s story that I quoted in the 25-Point Layoff Success Checklist You Hope to Never Need:

“Fairly early in my career, I had to implement a RIF (Reduction In Force = layoff) for 1/3 of my department about 15 people in the terrible economy of late 2001. This was purely a monetary issue for the company, all these folks were decent performers, however, they were chosen because they were in the bottom 1/3 in terms of performance.

The one thing I learned, is that you get to see a side of a person that you would never see outside a termination : how they react to the worst work news they could possibly get. Out of the 15 people some people were angry at the company and really angry at me, some people cried, and some people handled it amazingly well – so well that in 2 or 3 cases I decided that this person was so reasonable and so mature that I would have been better off firing someone else. In fact, one person said to me, “I’m really bummed out because I love working here, but I understand. Wow, this must be incredibly hard to fire all these people, how are you holding up?”.

While I could not reverse the fact that these people were being RIF’d and I had tried to help all 15 people with new jobs and references, it was hard not to work extra hard for the people who I thought handled it well.

To this day I have a great “last impression” of them. It made me feel better about recommending them for a new job, and in one case I was actually able to hire one person back 6 months later when I got additional head count.”

With that story in mind, Samuelsson was obviously wrong to react the way he did, right? The Swedish team will never hire him now, you would think.

Gomez is only 30 years old and has a realistic shot at making the team in 2014 but Samuelsson is 33, which means he’ll be 37 next time around, an age by which many players have retired already. It looks like Samuelsson really needed it this time, but when he opened his mouth to the press, why wasn’t he thinking about being a possible replacement?

Turns out, he was.

From the article: “He also closed the door to the possibility that he could be a replacement in case of an injury. “Not a chance,” he said. “If [Swedish coach Bengt-Aake Gustafsson] doesn’t want me, he doesn’t want me.”"

Conclusion: who did a better job at brand-building?

In hiding his frustration and wishing the USA team well, Gomez’s reaction was a cliché. He certainly didn’t lose any face because of it, but for saying something so expected, he probably didn’t earn many new admirers either.

Samuelsson, on the other hand, made headlines around the world with his comment and there were probably more than a few people who not only agreed with what he said but who will also talk about it publicly. Additionally, he knows the coach well after winning gold for him in 2006, and so he likely knew that he had nothing to lose with his comment.

Finally, like any professional sport, hockey is achievement-based. If former gold medal winner Samuelsson improves his already-good play over the next few weeks, there’s a good chance that all will be forgiven if the time comes to select an injury replacement who knows what it takes to win.

So it’s true that how you take rejection can determine whether or not you’ll need to do so again, but how you should take that rejection depends an awful lot on the context involved.

I originally published this article on the terrific Personal Branding Blog.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more ideas about personal branding from the real world.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

117 Funniest Creative Job and Recruitment Ads

Jacob Share — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:00:49 +0000

The most creative and funny job ads that recruiters are using to get your attention.

Enjoy! Click through to see larger versions at the source.

Which one is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.

Bonus

More funny and creative job ads

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more funny creative job stuff.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

[POLL] How Much Time Do You Spend Job Searching Every Day?

Jacob Share — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:00:31 +0000

This poll was inspired by a surprising recent survey.

Vote now:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Unemployed Americans spend 18 minutes per day

Yes, according to a study by Harper’s Index that I heard about on the Diggings blog, American job seekers are so lazy, unmotivated and depressed that they probably spend more time daily complaining about their job search than actually doing something about it.

I do think people in general spend less time job searching than they should, but the only way such a number could be that low is because it’s an average of people who are spending hours job searching every day, and people who are spending no time job searching every day.

So what about you: how much time do you spend job searching every day?

If you liked this article, you’ll enjoy [POLL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS] If You’re Looking For A Job, Did You….

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more surprising job search polls.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

One of The Most Common Positive Trends Among Job Seekers Today

Jacob Share — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:34:50 +0000

During a recession when few jobs are available, there’s one tactic that many job seekers are trying: starting their own business.

There are lots of reasons for a job seeker to try starting a business now.

Why starting a business can be a good idea for you

You will learn a lot. If you choose the right business, many of the skills you learn can also benefit your professional career.

You might find a job. By taking action and networking with like-minded people, you increase the chances of meeting someone who needs a skilled person like you that understands their business.

You will feel better about yourself. By learning a new business and aiming towards measurable goals, you will feel more in control of your life than when on a job search that’s dragging on, where it seems like you’re at the mercy of every hiring manager who invites you for an interview.

You will earn more money. If your new business is a success, it will end your job search by becoming your new job. At the minimum, you can generate extra income that continues to grow even after you find a “real” job, so that eventually you will earn enough to no longer feel locked in to any job.

Most enterprising job seekers tell me that they either got fed up with job searching, or they had a business idea they wanted to try, or both. And I completely understand, because I’ve been there too.

The first days of my own business

My last job search started in June of 2006. Still living in Paris at the time, my job search was nevertheless focused on continuing my high tech career, but back in Israel.

After 3 months of interviews, including two round-trip flights to Tel Aviv, the idea for a blog to help other job seekers started to take shape. Initially, my main goal was to share my own job search highs and lows for the benefit of others and it still is. I also liked the idea that no one else in Israel was blogging about job search (that is, until I actually started blogging and realized how much harder that fact made my blogging life at the time).

Ironically though, one of the reasons I started blogging about job search was to spend less time in job search. As you know, spending 8 hours a day looking for a job is tough work.

Working on this blog became a chance to learn something new that could help in my professional career, and not just by helping me find a new one. It was refreshing to work on a new project for the first time in over a year and it didn’t take long until I was excited about the possibilities.

Then people started asking me The Question.

The one question job seekers hesitate to ask me most…

…but then do so anyway. And that question is:

“How do you make money?”

This question used to really frustrate me. I remember saying to someone, “we’re here at a job fair. Wouldn’t you rather ask me for help about your job search?” I didn’t yet understand how the answer to their question could actually help their job search by inspiring them to do something similar to what I was doing, for all the benefits I mentioned above.

Another reason the money question annoyed me early on was because at that time, I wasn’t making any money. I didn’t originally have the intention to make a business out of JobMob, but as I learned, applied and tested what I learned, I started to make a little bit of money, so I kept going and I made a little more, and so on.

So now let me answer your question.

I currently make money with JobMob 3 different ways:

Advertising – mostly banner (image) advertising on the website itself.
Consulting – I consult about job search/recruitment, personal branding, blogging, social media, e-commerce, community building and almost any topic related to the Internet.
Affiliate marketing – earning commissions from the sales of other people’s products.

One key to success with affiliate marketing is to only promote products that you can vouch for. There are many products coming out all the time but I’m very picky and only willing to talk to you about the rare products that are must-sees, the ones where you get so much more value than what you pay for. Usually, these are also products that I’ve used myself, like the OnlineProfits.com online business training course.

A terrific starter course for the enterprising job seeker

I’ve known Daniel Scocco, creator of OnlineProfits.com and one of the most successful bloggers ever, for a few years. After completing the first edition of his course in 2009, Daniel asked me for a testimonial and this is what I told him:

“OnlineProfits is a terrific starter course for the Internet entrepreneur. I liked how a typical lesson is short enough to go through in one sitting but long enough to give you the insight needed to start getting results in the topic covered. Also, some of the tools provided are great time-savers. I plan to recommend the course to my blog readers.”

And that’s why OnlineProfits is the perfect course for the job seeker (0r anyone) who’d like to start a business.

Together with other top-level web experts that he gathered from around the world to mentor OnlineProfits students, Daniel’s lessons take you by the hand in covering all the major facets of running an online business and explain how to do it effectively, wasting the least amount of time and effort, which means you can continue with your job search in parallel.

I asked Daniel: what do you think is the most compelling reason to start an online-based business right now?

He replied:

“Despite having revolutionized the world already, the web is still in its infancy. We can’t even imagine the things that are coming. But one thing is certain, the people working online are the ones who will be catching the biggest opportunities. “

This goes back to the benefits I mentioned earlier. If you start building a business now and keep at it, eventually you will be able to take advantage of opportunities that can lead to you not needing any other jobs except the ones you create.

What you get by joining the course

Access to all training materials, which are composed of text lessons (also downloadable as MP3 audios if you prefer), case studies, video tutorials and interviews.
Access to a private forum where you can interact with other members and get all your questions answered.
Access to the time-saving “Tools” I mentioned in my testimonial, and the “Resources” section, which contain a selection of tools from around the web and exclusive resources (e.g., templates and keyword lists).
Access to the Content Library, which has over 500 e-books you can download and even re-sell.
Access to the course’s social clubs. One of them is a social bookmarking club, to help you get more traffic from social bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumble, and the other one is a retweet club, to help you get more traffic from Twitter.

What kinds of results can you expect from the course?

According to Daniel: “The results you’ll get will depend entirely on your goals and on how hard you are willing to work. Some people join our program because they just want to create a couple of websites to supplement their monthly income. Others want to work full time online and build big businesses, and they see our program as a foundation for that. Keep in mind that we believe there are no shortcuts to success though, and we don’t offer “magic bullets” or “overnight riches”. Building a real and profitable online business will take a lot of work and time. Our training program complements that with the right set of knowledge and strategies.”

How much does the course cost?

4 monthly payments of $98 (or $392 in total).

For that price you get lifetime access to the training materials and to the members area.

OnlineProfits.com goes on sale today and space is limited

For the first time since the closure of the OnlineProfits training course after I graduated, the program reopens today for a new class of students.

Access to the new OnlineProfits.com will be available at 3am Eastern or 10am Israel time (check your time here).

ONLY 300 SPOTS ARE AVAILABLE for new students, and they will probably sell out by the end of today if we can judge by what happened last time.

JOIN ONLINEPROFITS.COM TODAY before all the spots are gone.

Fast-action bonuses if you join using my link

So that joining this course is a no-brainer for you, I’m going to throw in some extra bonuses to complement the already long list of course materials and resources.

Two 45-minute consult calls – every person that joins OnlineProfits through this link will get 2 free, non-transferable 45 minute consult calls with me about anything you like (1 call for each half of the course). One example would be to help you find a business idea that synchronizes well with your current profession and personal brand.

I usually charge 100 euros per hour for consult calls, so this bonus has a value of 150 euros, which is over $215.

One free month of advertising here on JobMob – any business you create will need to sell either a product or service, and by joining OnlineProfits through this link, you’ll earn one month of free 125 x 125 pixel ad placement here on JobMob for your business, a $200 value.

In other words: if you sign up now using my link, I will give you $415 in bonuses, while the course only costs $392! I’m practically paying you to join.

My personal guarantee

Finally- if you join OnlineProfits only to decide that the course isn’t for you and then leave the course, you can still keep my fast-action bonuses. That’s how sure I am that you will find this course useful.

JOIN ONLINEPROFITS.COM TODAY

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for the best career tools and resources on the Web.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

[POLL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS] If You’re Looking For A Job, Did You…

Jacob Share — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:00:55 +0000

I find the 2nd place result to be particularly surprising.

We’ll get to that, but…

First: how I screwed up

Before I get to the results or the analysis, let me tell you how I screwed up with this poll, or more specifically, with how I told you about it.

When I first published the poll on JobMob a few weeks ago, I thought that the voting mechanism wouldn’t let you vote from the article itself, and that you would need to click through to the website. With that in mind, I put an image of the poll in the article so that when you clicked through to vote, you would easily recognize it in the sidebar here on JobMob:

Believe it or not, it never occurred to me that people would see that image and think they could vote by clicking on it, which now seems so obvious that I probably would have done it myself.

The only reason I realized my mistake was because people who did click through to the website also tried voting by clicking on the image, and I was able to see that using a tool called CrazyEgg:

Hopefully, some of the image clickers also realized what was going on and then actually voted in the sidebar. In any case, once I saw this, I immediately removed the poll image and put the actual poll into the announcement article.

Lesson learned: from now on, no more images of polls!

The poll results and what they mean

Here are the official results of the poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

40% Get laid-off from your last job?

This answer was expected because of the 2009 recessions in the countries that most JobMob visitors come from, like the USA, Israel and the UK.

One thing worth pointing out is that I specifically didn’t distinguish between ‘got laid-off’ and ‘got fired’. For a poll to work well, the answer choices need to be clear so that your vote comes to you right away. Although ‘laid off’ and ‘fired’ don’t mean exactly the same thing, and since the difference might not exist in all countries and cultures, I decided to just keep things simple.

26% Quit your last job?

Like I said at the top, I find this result the most surprising. During a recession, you would normally sit tight in your job because there are so few other ones available, unless of course, you have a good reason to believe differently in your case.

If you voted this way, can you tell us why you quit now of all times?

21% You’re looking for your first job

There was a good comment by Esther on the poll announcement about how the poll didn’t take into account stay-at-home moms who were now making their way back into the workforce, but I can imagine that this was the option they would have chosen, alongside graduates, newly-released soldiers, etc.

13% Have a contract that just ended?

A follow-up question: if you voted this, and you’re a freelancer, are you now looking for a salary job or more freelance work?

If you liked this article, you’ll enjoy What Is Your Biggest Job Search Problem? [POLL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS].

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more job search polls and insight.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

Is Personal Branding Easier For Visible Minorities?

Jacob Share — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:35:53 +0000

A Hassidic Jew came to me with a personal branding question.

As he was becoming more active branding himself online, he was considering the use of video. An expert in an industry that has nothing to do with Judaism or religion, he was hesitating because he wasn’t sure how people would react when they saw what he looked like in his hat, sidelocks and beard. What to do?

His question could apply for any visible minorities but is particularly relevant when the audience doesn’t yet include people from the concerned minority group. If we dig a little deeper though, this is less a question about using video and more a question about letting people know who you really are.

There are 2 ways to answer this question.

1) Build your brand while exposing yourself gradually

Make your visible minority-hood a non-issue. Earn so much respect for your ideas that people won’t care what you look like or where you’re from.

Get your audience used to your writing first. Even though podcasts and videos are almost everywhere these days and are only going to become more pervasive, there are still many people who have stuck with text alone for a long time as they grew their brand.

The danger of only using text for a prolonged period of time is that depending on how you start using multimedia, people might be turned off less by racism and more by the simple fact that they feel deceived, as if you weren’t being completely honest with them over the time they’ve known you. If you’re reading this and deciding to go the multimedia route, be very careful how you manage the transition so that you don’t appear to have been hiding all this time. Also, prepare how to respond if people make that accusation.

Next, get people used to your voice either by podcasting and/or using video without actually appearing in it at first, such as with screencasts or by conducting interviews off-camera. This is important because your voice will later act as a bridge in helping people immediately recognize you on video even if they’re unfamiliar with the person they’re seeing for the first time.

Since you don’t want to appear as if you’re hiding, star in your videos as soon as possible but only after you know that people have gotten used to your voice. From then on, just be yourself. Depending on the size of your audience, you will often lose some viewers for the wrong reasons but then again, if they had known more about you from the beginning, they might never have connected with you in the first place. You’re better off without people like that in your network, so don’t consider it a real loss.

2) Leverage your visible appearance to standout

Personal branding success involves being a standout for the right reasons. Being a visible minority in a crowd means that by default, you will stand out. After that, it’s up to you to convince everyone that you’re there for those right reasons. This is the personal branding advantage of visible minorities.

Put in context, my questioner could become known as THE Hassidic Jew in his field, e.g. the Hassidic judoka, the Hassidic plumber, etc.

The branding paradox in breaking a “glass ceiling” of being first minority member to enter a field or group is that other minority members will be able to follow, potentially weakening your brand. If your entire brand is based on your appearance, how will you manage once there are brand competitors with a similar appearance? That’s why your brand needs to be more than one-dimensional; you also have to be bringing real value to your community.

That said, “first to market” is very meaningful. If you are the one to break that glass ceiling, that fact can reinforce your brand so much that you will always stand out, but again, it will only be successful if you have other dimensions to your brand.

In this branding scenario, audio and video are just branding tools to use on equal level with any others as part of your personal branding strategy.

How to choose which strategy is right for you

If you’ve already been building your brand without showing that you’re part of a visible minority in your field, you’re better off using the first strategy to avoid what your audience or network might perceive as a negative surprise.

The second strategy is only really an option for someone starting out in a field, but that also could mean someone who wants to undertake a major rebranding.

Ultimately, choose the strategy that you feel more comfortable with or that will be more successful for you.

I originally published this article on the terrific Personal Branding Blog.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more ideas on how to rethink your job search.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

9 Best Practices For Turning Online Job Openings Into Job Offers

Jacob Share — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:00:40 +0000

To learn about and apply for new job openings, the huge majority of job seekers in the Western world use Internet-based job sites or job boards. Here’s how they can be used most effectively.

This is a guest post by Ron Machol.

The best thing about online job sites is that they are so easy to use, and can be quite effective as tools for accessing a large number of employment opportunities.

There are a multitude of job sites, each with their own focus. Some are regional, others deal with a specific industry or community niche, and still others are general purpose. The sites with a large quantity of jobs usually have a feature to filter jobs based upon your interest, and some send email updates of new positions regularly. When the job candidates see a posting that is relevant for them, they then apply for a job by sending their cover letter and CV/resume, either on the website itself or externally by email/fax.

From my experience working at Israemploy, an organization that has one of the most popular job sites in Israel, I have learned a number of things which I would like to share with you here.

You really can find a job

Many people absolutely do get invited to interviews in a wide variety of sectors from job openings they applied to on websites, and some of those interviews lead to job offers.

Use local conventions

When applying for jobs in Israel, it is critical that you send an Israeli-style CV, as well as including a targeted cover letter. Make sure that you address the specifics of the job requirements in your cover letter and/or CV.

Research the company before applying

If the hiring company is known from the job listing, spend some time researching them before applying so that you can highlight in your CV/cover letter how you can benefit that specific company.

Apply via fax when possible

When a fax number is given, consider applying by fax instead of email, as this can sometimes help distinguish you from the crowd since most people apply by email.

Call ahead to introduce yourself

If the job opening has a telephone number, call beforehand to introduce yourself to the person receiving the applications, to develop a relationship and get additional information that may be useful.

Don’t limit yourself, let employers decide

If you are not sure whether you meet the requirement for a job and thus whether to apply, don’t filter yourself out of a job. If the job sounds interesting to you, just send in your application. It could be that some of the reservations that you have about a particular job requirement will be evaluated by the employer in a more lenient or different way, based upon the real job requirements and quality of candidates applying.

Follow up!

Follow-up is critical after applying for a job. This is best done by telephone, initially to check if your application was received, and sometimes just the fact that the recruiter has found your application while you are speaking on the telephone is enough to get yourself a little more attention.

Find and network with company insiders

Contacting the employer after an application can have other benefits as well. I have heard of people that at the same time they applied for a job, they also searched for people that work at the same company, e.g. a person in the same or related profession as opposed to the human resources person, and opened a secondary line of communication. More than once job candidates have told me that it was actually this alternate path to the company that succeeded in raising their visibility and getting them an interview.

Diversify

Finally, online websites have to be placed in the overall spectrum of job search resources/techniques. I started this article by writing that one of the good things about online sites is that they are so easy to use. However, this is also one of the worst things about the sites; if they are so easy for you to use, they are easy for everyone else as well, and jobs that are posted here tend to get a lot of candidates. Therefore, it is best for the job candidate to diversify their job search techniques, adding additional methods including employment networking and contacting placement agencies.

About the author

Ron Machol works at Israemploy, an organization which assists new and veteran immigrants to find work in Israel. Services include a large quantity of job opportunities updated daily with a focus on suitability for immigrants and personalized employment consultancy. Ron can be reached via email at ron@israemploy.net or on Twitter at @ronmachol, and you can also read additional articles related to job search in Israel on his blog jobsearchinisrael.blogspot.com.

If you liked this article, you’ll also enjoy Little Known Ways to Recognize A Spammer-run Jobsite.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more insight on how to find the best online job openings.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant