SWANLEY AND NORTHERN PARISHES JOB CLUB No 2 - PROGESS SINCE STARTING

This post outlines the kind of development strategy for what have become  "drop-in" job clubs at Hextable and Swanley. Members and volunteers intereact in four ways:

1. regular weekly meetings with fixed times and places;
2. occasional meetings at the library and Information Centre for advisory sessions on CV or covering letters etc;
3. emails and telephone (rarely) where a member gives contact details and communication consent;
4. social media, ie by Facebook, Twitter, and blogging eg Jaefoo-Blog 

Generally the thinking behind each approach is as follows:

• Meeting: The essence of our meetings is a)  members in small group discussion, and/or b) one-to-one "advice " sessions member/volunteer. A topic is sometimes introduced as a structured discussion.
• One-to-One sessions: These meetings  are for advice on CV and other aspects of job search or for business-building.
• E-mails and Telephone:  Media used for distributing vacancy notifications and other relatively urgent communications (a member registers consent for this approach).
• Social Media Marketing:  A relatively new approach for the following: a) to promote the Job Clubs or aspects of our work to members, volunteers, local Facebookers' Walls and more widely; b) to obtain and promote vacancy information;  c) to identify "good job club practice", eg by being a follower on Twitter; d) to give diary events information and e) to promote the locality (it may lead to jobs). 

Systems" Development:   From the beginning of December 2010 to the end of January 2011 "systems" development was heavy.  In this period much advice and help was given by Jane Gould of GB Job Clubs and the Leaders of the Job Clubs at Edenbridge, Sevenoaks and Strood.

Openings:

• Hextable Job Club:     Eventually we opened the Hextable Job Club on Wednesday 9th February at the Heritage Centre, College Road Hextable by kind permission of Hextable Parish Council. Open at 1.30pm to 3pm
• Swanley Job Club:    Nearly a month later we opened at the Swanley Job Club at the Library and Information Centre, London Road, Swanley Town Centre. Open 3pm to 5pm.

Format:  The two Job Clubs are of a "drop-in" format and are in effect one club for members but there are few "dual" members. If appropriate, arranged meetings take place outside "hours", eg to advise on an urgent job application draft CV.


Promotion Strategy 
Posters and flyers -  Information has been distributed by hand or by email - several organisations kindly display them. 
Word of Mouth  -  Introductions about the Job Clubs have been given to a)  three audiences in Swanley; b) a business- to-business show in Sevenoaks and  c)  participants at two training course in Swanley and  c) to numerous representatives of local authorities, government agencies and private sector companies and individuals.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) Having attended a course at the Stag Plaza, SMM has become part of the means of contacting and keeping in touch with members; developing on-line information posts  and generally seeking job opportunities, etc. Examples are:

 Entries for both job clubs have been published on the Directory of Job Clubs; See http://www.gbjobclubs.org/?page_id=30


 Fairly frequent Facebook messages are a) posted on the Hextable Job Club and Swanley Job Club wall; b) a few are sent to Doug Bug of West Kent Housing Association - he has many friends;


 An short article on job clubs was published by HortWeek;


 A blog has been created at http://jaef-jaefoo-blog.blogspot.com/2011/02/swanley-and-northern-parishes-job-club.html


 Blog and forum on Saga Zone;


Support:  We have been given support, advice and offers of help from many employment, business and other specialists in the community: Examples : a) Next Step sees members from time to time;  b)  Business Link courses have been attended by members - one member has attended three and now has a formal mentor relationship through Business Link to help develop his business,  c)  help with talks and discussions have been offered and taken on one occasion.


Diary of Events Outside events at which members and volunteers may learn about employment and also networking has been started, eg a)  on 17 February 2011 we attended the recent HMRC event on taxation and starting a business; b) Kent Vision 2020 was attended.


Information   Prepared and published Notes, Newsletters and other documents for members and others. Much is at Jaefoo Blog.

Research No 2 - How to research an Employer, etc using Social Media Marketing?

At the end of a job interview the interviewer almost always asks the likes of: "Have you any questions for me?"

It may be a good idea to have several questions up your sleeve: as opposed to none! Of course you will not be expected to ask more than one or two: the important point is that you will be able to show an interest in the organisation/ position/ department etc. Also, you have the opportunity to surprise or interest the interviewer with a genuine query - that's great.

Researching an employer will probably give many questions - which you might be able to bring into the interview as it progresses - leading to a good interview. So, how to research the employer...? (Similar approaches may be used to look at a supplier or a business which is for sale.)

The starting point is the recruitment literature. It should be sufficiently detailed to attract you to apply for the job being offered! Otherwise you will need to go to other sources.

Social Media Marketing: Today the seemingly progressive employer is into social media marketing so during the interview you will be able to demonstrate (if appropriate) your highly developed SMM knowledge and skills (for business) by referring to the content of :

• the latest tweets that have been issued by the employer - avoid looking at Twitter during the interview(!);
• the latest posts on the organisation's website;
• the most recent Google Alerts about the industry received on your smartphone;
• profiles of directors, managers and others you may have sussed on company's wall on Facebook or within LinkedIn;
• hashtags you use to research products and services in the industry;
• job specifications for positions for the developing SMM employment sector, particularly in the company's industry;
• comments you have made on various blogs associated with the organisation or industry;
• with caution, the Retweets or Likes you have about posts and profiles of the individuals and organisations you follow on Twitter or claim as a Friend on Facebook (respectively); and,
• your blog on Google+ (Sorry, but that might be taken by the interviewer/reader as one-up-manship or one-up-womanship.)

Caution: All the above suggests that you may need to be cautious. This will be particularly so if you sense that the interviewer, perhaps and older person, is not yet into these new fangled thingymijigs. For instance he or she may be an "arch enemy" of one of those you claim to be Follower of or as a Friend.



Finally, the interviewer may listen to you and subsequent to the interview:

• climb on to your Facebook wall;
• seek your Profile on LinkedIn;
• hunt down your wilder comments (to blogs); and/ or
• visit your personal blog or website to read your posts.

This post has tried to cover the jargon and elements of SMM - the next post will seek other sources.