Making Connections between Social Media, Home Ownership, Job-Hunting, and the Power of Telling Good Stories

First… Announcing my new Making Connections series

Making Connections is a new series that I will write somewhat regularly to share my favorite links from the past week or two. (Notice the ambiguity there. I’d like to make this series a weekly ritual if it’s popular, but we’ll see what happens. If you like this series, you should leave a comment to let me know.)

The goal is to talk about small ideas based on what I’m reading on the web. Many of these ideas are not yet big enough to be a blog posts themselves, though I may elaborate on some of them in a blog post as my opinion forms. My hope is to give people some inspiration for their own blogs by pointing to interesting concepts. Please feel free to use any of these mini-blogs to build upon in a post.

The bonus of Making Connections is that I get to link out to a lot of people who are sharing insightful ideas. If you’d like your blog posts to be considered for this series, send your feed url to m[at]twentyset.com. I will add you to my feed reader and keep track of your ideas, and post the best ones to my twitter account and blog.

And to follow this series, subscribe to my feed so you can read my Making Connections series for free as soon as it’s available. My post picks are also available in the sidebar of my blog and sporadically on Twitter (follow me @monicaobrien).

Here we go!

News Flash: Young Professionals With No Experience Are Screwed.

MSNBC reported that Gen Y unemployment rates are the highest right now, at 9.6% compared to the average 7% (Further reading here).

Here’s what I think: first, that a lot of young people might have graduated in December into a horrible economy. Second, that Gen Y job hunters are holding out for the right opportunity, which is actually very smart, because taking a job you hate (or end up hating because you didn’t investigate well) will have you jobless again within six months. Finally, I think some young professionals aren’t casting their nets wide enough, aren’t sending out killer resumes, aren’t willing to concede on pay, and aren’t preparing carefully for interviews. The job hunt is difficult for everyone right now, but older generations are seasoned professionals who know how to do the job hunt better than millennials.

Above all, keep a positive attitude to end your job hunt faster! It helps if you read about how companies are struggling to recruit millennials still.

Gen Y Might Be Doomed. But Please Buy a Home.

Generation Y is possibly the kindest, most “Good Samaritan,” do-gooder generation that has ever lived. Not only are we going to fix the workplace and fix politics, but we are also going to fix the real estate market. Yeesss!

All jokes aside, housing prices are pretty low right now. If you have the money and are fairly confident you won’t get laid off, it’s a good time to get rid of your rent and start investing in your future. I bought my condo in 2007 and 1.5 years later it is valued at $40,000 over what I paid, even with the recession. Career Girls tells you how to make home ownership happen for you.

The Social Media Career Outlook

Despite marketing executives complaining about Web 2.0 overkill, Mashable announces that social media marketing is still the #1 growth area in online marketing. Of course, they’re right, but the caveat is companies probably aren’t looking for expensive consultants to teach them how to get the job done.

The right way to make money in social media during a recession is to write an e-book (or 10). Small business owners want a cheap form of How-To that can get them up and going quickly while also allowing them to bootstrap.

Then again, brands might simply put their own employees to work as evangelists for the company’s products. Sure, but I still don’t think companies will cut all social media hiring. Social media will go main stream in companies quickly in 2009; and eventually, it will be a required skill you must have as a marketing professional.

Get a Job From Your Blog, It’s All the Rage this Season

It turns out even recessions are a time for ideas to go in and out of fashion. Something that is tre en vogue right now is using social media to get your next job. Aside from the obvious, that most of the jobs you can get through social media are for web professionals, freelance writers/artists, and developers anyway, it’s really bad advice for anyone who has just lost his job and doesn’t have a blog already.

Just goes to show, you need to put your network in place before you get laid off. Here’s a guide if you’re ready to get started now. If you are already into social media, LinkedIn is a great place to find referrals!

Some People Just Tell Good Stories

There are a few links that I want to include that don’t fit with anything else at first glance. Nisha Chittal writes about what it means to be an American and Steve Errey writes about dating troubles. Both of these posts are fantastic and I would recommend them to anyone.

But you know what else? Both links have everything to do with social media and job-hunting, because people who tell good stories succeed at both.

So if you are struggling, use these two posts to figure out your story both online and offline – it is bound to bring you success.