Career Intercom makes job search networking more effective!

Career Intercom is a unique on-line social network where job seekers help each other land, by replicating, online, the dialog that takes place at networking events.

Career Intercom solves the problem of unlocking the 'hidden' job market. It matches job seekers to each other so they can share information to get the right fit job, faster. Job seekers share immediately actionable unadvertised (hidden) leads, recent and other leads, contacts inside company, contacts outside company, company culture, interview questions and other job search information for competitive collaboration. No other site offers this unique differentiator of matching one job seeker's target companies with others who have information to share. Job seekers exchange information privately and quickly.

Think of Career Intercom as a cross between Linked In, eHarmony, and Twitter.

1. Register
2. Browse those who are looking to share information on your industries, companies, or positions.
3. Contact them through this site and ask for the details.

4. Add your target industries, companies, positions, and locations.
5. Career Intercom will tell you who has information to share about your targets.
6. Contact them through this site and ask for the details.

* Click Add on the Menu
* Select whether you are adding your target list or adding things to share with others.
* Select or enter Function, Company, Position, or Location
* Click Submit

TARGETING: The biggest difference is no other site allows listing your target companies. Career Intercom does. Experts recommend the first thing to do in job searching is to form a target list of companies where you can shine. Then communicate that to those you meet so they can help you (when they don't know, they can't help). Imagine going to a networking event and telling new friends your Career Intercom username so they can keep track of your Targets after the event. Today they have to rely on memory or perhaps notes on the back of business cards after networking events. With Career Intercom as your targets change your new friends will be able to know.

SHARING: No other site offers a place to privately share information that could be useful to others. For example, say you interview but don't take the job or don't get it. You have very valuable information that someone else can use. With a few clicks you can make it available to another who is specifically looking for that information.

MATCHING: Another difference is Career Intercom has a proactive matching algorithm that immediately connects someone who has information to share with you. Just like at a networking event when you tell someone you're looking for X and they say oh I know X. This is job search networking on-line. No other site offers this. With most current sites, you have to continually search which takes lots of time and effort.

ONE-TO-ONE: Today, if you would like to ask for company contacts, leads, names, phone numbers, email format, or company culture, you have to broadcast it to the groups you belong to. With Career Intercom, your request for information is seen by only those who can help you.

TEMPORARY FRIENDS: Another big difference from LinkedIn is Career Intercom is for new or temporary friends not just lifelong connections. Most jobs are found through new connections.

ALIAS: The option to have an alias is another important differentiator that Career Intercom provides its users. A good portion of the job seekers are already employed. They often don't want their current employer or colleagues to know.

Research shows that 3 out of 4 jobs are still found through networking and that most of those are found through new connections. Career Intercom is your on-line networking community to share information, build credibility and build relationships so you can land the right fit job, faster.

Read The Art of Schmoozing ...
“Discovering what you can do for someone else" by Darcy Rezac in his book, The Frog and the Prince. Herein lies eighty percent of the battle: great networkers want to know what they can do for you, not what the you can do for them.

Help someone else land a job and they just may return the favor by pulling you into that company, for example. The first 'rule' of networking is about helping others.

If you help others, they'll rate you high. The higher your average rating and the more ratings you receive, the better your reputation. This will entice others to share with you.

First, do not put any private, personal or confidential information on Career Intercom. You simply announce that you have quality, current, actionable information to share. Then, once someone contacts you, you decide if and what to share.

So what you should announce is any (exclusive) information that you think will help someone else get a job.

Suppose you just had an interview but either didn't take the job or get it, well you have information to share ... You can share contacts, other openings you might have heard of, culture, interview questions, background check on a company or position.

If you're a consultant at a company and hear about an opening, you could share that information.
An employed person could help a new graduate make contacts, do background checks on the company and really understand if a particular company is the right start.

Here's a list of things to share ...
Job Lead
Unadvertised Lead
Newly Created Position
Job Details
Helpful Inside Connection
Helpful Inside Recruiter
Helpful Outside Connector
Helpful Outside Recruiter
Primary Contracting Vendors
Seminar
Networking Event
Names
Titles
Phone
Email
Email Template
Company Pain, Problems, or Goals
Culture
Environment
Organizational Structure
Compensation

One of the most important things in successfully managing your career is to target where you want to go. Researchers at the University of Missouri recently studied the efforts of 327 job seekers, ages 20 to 40. They found that developing and following a plan at the beginning of a job search has a significant impact on its success.

Carefully research where you want to go next ... which geography, industry, company size, company culture, and positions. This is called your target list or Targets for short.

Here's a good primer on making a target list ...
Creating a Target List of Companies
Highly Effective Job Search - Concise list (Makes excellent points)
Highly Effective Job Search - Online book
How to focus your job search with a skills matrix

Here are resources for finding target companies ...
Rutgers Library
Inc 5000
SEC Edgars
Fortune 500
Hoovers
LinkedIn List of Companies

Relationships allow you to define how you know another friend within Career Intercom. It's a way to easily keep track of groups of people. Some relationships are very powerful for speeding up your job search. Accountabuddy is one of those.

Manage your relationships from the Manage menu and Relationship sub-menu.
Create a relationship from your friend's profile page. You can get to the profile by clicking on their name on most pages.

Types of relationships
* Friend - These would be the new friends you make during your job search, old friends that you'd like to keep informed of your targets, and acquaintances.

* Accountabuddy - This relationship is for those who will keep you focused and honest about your job search. Having a few Accountabuddies will speed up your search because they will ensure you follow up on what you said you will accomplish during any given week.

* Recruiter - This is available just for recruiters to know what each of their candidates' targets. This will save recruiters time by providing a single source to search. Plus it will make their clients and candidates happier by placing the right candidate in the company of their choice. To create Recruiter and Coach relationships, just ask here.

* Coach - This is available just for Career Coaches to know what each of their candidates' targets. After all, every coach knows that a target list is an essential first step to their client's career goal. To create Recruiter and Coach relationships, just ask here.

* Coffee Club - This is for a group of people who get together to motivate each other for their job search. Below are some guidelines to establish your own club.

Coffee Club Guidelines that you could adapt for your club ...
• Limit membership to 10 people at a time
• Agree that the group is self directed (meaning that no one person is the leader; rather, everyone is a leader and demonstrates the behavior he/she expects from the others)
• Agree on whom to invite to succeed someone who finds a job
• Meet at a free, local place - mall food court, library, college study room, coffee house, or other venue in your area
• Have a same day/time weekly meeting (unless a different, changing schedule suits; 2 hours seems to be a good duration)
• Require members to commit to regular attendance
• Require members to hold each other accountable at a group level (trust is built over time)
• Encourage members to form 'job buddies' (usually 2 people who agree to hold each other accountable at a finer, personal level)
• Require members to inform the group if they are unable to attend a meeting
• Celebrate a landing at an evening event at an inexpensive restaurant (apart from regular schedule) OR
• Have occasional evening motivational events at an inexpensive restaurant (apart from regular schedule) to include 'alumni'
• Use huddle (free LinkedIn virtual workspace) to post documents, discussions, and calendar items (someone must own workspace maintenance and turn over to another if he/she lands)
• Require members to post a marketing plan (template included)
• Require members to post other marketing materials (handbill, prospectus, professional bio, profile, business card, etc.; templates/resources included)
• Require members to post a resume
• Require members to post goals by a certain day/time each week and update accordingly (no particular format, though you could have a template for those who don't know where to start)
• Require members to respond to discussion posts
• Conduct the meeting this way: in turn, brief synopsis of what was/wasn't accomplished, highlight of successes, description of obstacles, request for advice/input, leads/contacts sharing, suggested topic(s) for discussion (now or future)
• Periodically review group health and what could be done to improve

You control whether a note is visible to all Career Intercom friends, just your buddy list or private just for you. Use the lock next to the word Notes to change the setting.
You can ...
* Enter private new information you've found out about job leads, helpful inside connections, and what's going on at a company.
* Be more specific in requesting certain information from others such as "Would someone who has inside knowledge on this company be available for a one-on-one meeting to help me better understand the organization and environment so I can determine where I would fit best?"
* Be more specific in what you are sharing such as "My inside contact is an influencer in all the technology areas."
* For each of your target companies, you could write an objective statement or positioning statement that defines specifically what you could contribute there.

Two simple thoughts to making contact. First, find out what the friend is targeting and try to help them. Second, just be simple, considerate, and ask.

Highly Effective Job Search - Concise list Explains what to do when asking for a meeting.

Specific steps on Career Intercom ...
- Check their credibility by clicking their name.
- Click the Contact link next to their name.
- Send a friendly letter starting with what you can offer them and then asking for what you need.
- You can't see their email address but they'll see yours and can reply. It will arrive in your email not Career Intercom.
- As with all other first contact, if you don't hear back feel free to gently prompt them just once more.

When you speak with someone remember this acronym ... SUCCESS.

S Strategic - does the story fit the message I want to convey?
U Unique - why are you different from everyone else
C Clear - not technical but understandable to the person listening
C Concise - don't ramble, stick to one main point
E Enthusiastic - Smile, make it exciting, make it memorable
S Short - should be a quick answer to their question
S Solution- Why did you use this story, did it serve the purpose,
convey your message?

Making contact with employers ...

Would you like to help your buddies who have listed their targets?
Would you like to help someone new you met at a networking event?
Did someone new to Career Intercom list their targets?
Would you like to be proactive in helping someone you don't even know get in at the target company?

It's easy to help them!

Check your LinkedIn connections. Do a company search and LinkedIn will show you all the people you know at that company. Then offer it to the person asking on Career Intercom.

Check your personal contact list. Whether it's in Microsoft Outlook, in a file, in your address book or just someone you know around town. Offer that up.

When you go to a networking event or one-on-one, keep alert for what your friends on Career Intercom are looking for.

Check other social networking sites.

If you're job searching, then you're probably coming across all sorts of leads that your Career Intercom friends could use.

If the lead you find is public, share it anyway because it's better to be safe.

How to build your reputation:

* Share as much as possible. When others view your profile they will see how much you've shared.
* Once you've helped someone else, ask them to give you a star rating and some written feedback. Both are on the profile page, either yours or theirs.
* Fill out your My Account page so that others can 'get to know you'. Especially the affiliations. Create a link to your LinkedIn page.

Checking reputation:
Before you decide to contact someone you may want to check their profile for all the items mentioned above. You would also want to see how long they've been a member on this site ... it's labeled 'Member for' on their profile page.

I'm employed:
If you're employed, networking is still important. So continue to build your reputation. A few years from now, having a great reputation will come in handy for your next opportunity.

Having a job search partner or mentor will help you in all the intangible emotional, strategic and tactical needs you'll have during your search. They can help you with advice, leads, support and more.

To make the relationship effective, you must set goals, follow up, communicate regularly and achieve your goals.

Career Intercom will help you find others who are looking for the same information as you so you can partner with them. If the person happens to be at a higher level or in the functional area where you would like to be, they would be good mentor candidates.

Examples of job search partnering ...
* Review resume
* Mock interviews
* 360 degree self assessment
   - Get feedback about you from new friends, after interviews, peers, and former bosses.
   - "How did I present myself to you on initial contact?"
   - "What's one thing I should change about my communication style?"
   - "If you were a hiring manager, what would your impression be?"
   - "What's one strength you perceive about me?"
   - "What's one weakness you perceive about me?"
   - "What do you think of my skills and experience?"
* Emotional support, Q&A, brainstorm
   - "How should I approach this company?"
   - "What should I present?"
   - "The interview went like X, what's your take on it?"
   - "The company's asking for X, what do you think?"
   - "What collateral should I prepare?"
* Proofread documents for employers
   - interview packets
   - "Competitive analysis"
   - "Why I'm the best candidate"
   - "What will I bring"
   - "How will the company benefit"
   - "I understand this industry"
   - "Company can generate revenue (or cut costs) by"

Builds your reputation: For example, suppose you go on an interview but don’t take or get the job. Well you know a bit about the company, the people, and the culture. This information is no longer useful to you but may be to another. So you would share this.

Feeling of camaraderie: Job search doesn't have to be a lonely process. Others can help you. Helping others makes you feel good. More minds are better than one.

Networking event 24x7: You can go to only so many networking events per week. It's necessary to get out but it's also costly, time consuming, and many times random. Career Intercom is your place to network all the time.

* People who are actively looking for a job.
* People who are already employed but are looking for a change.
* Students entering the job market.
* Consultants and contractors helping each other find new assignments.

* Recruiters will be able to keep track of all their candidates' target companies in one place.

* Career Coaches will be able to keep track of all their clients' target companies in on place.

* Networking organizations will be increase attendance and value by recommend which attendees should meet each other.

Career Intercom helps you find the right job, faster, now and throughout your career.

Four out of five jobs are found through networking. Helping others and sharing is the first rule of networking.
Nine out of ten people will not share publicly. But they will share privately.

So, Career Intercom connects job seekers, consultants and networkers to privately exchange leads.

Career Intercom helps job seekers, consultants, and networkers ...
* Store your target companies, functions, positions, and locations.
* Match your targets to someone who has information to share on your targets.
* Contact that person privately.

Other ways Career Intercom help with your search ...

* List companies you want to work for.
* Share this list with others with your personal Career Intercom address.
* When they find information on your targets, Career Intercom will tell you.
* You can return the favor.
* Find job search partners for motivation.
* Print business cards with your latest targets.
* Find others who have the inside scoop, on companies you're interested in.
* Others can find you about companies they are interested in.
* Before going to a networking event, know who has information you want.
* After a networking event, keep your new friends current on your needs and stay current on theirs. Efficiently and privately.

Career Intercom helps networking organizations ...
* Add attendance
* Deepen value
* Save time

It does this by tracking RSVP and recommending attendees who must meet each other. Organizers use Career Intercom's calendar to post their event. Career Intercom members sign up to the event. Each attendee is matched to all the others who can help him/her and also to all the others who s/he can help. The matching is done on the targets and shares that each member has entered.

So before the event attendees can prepare and do their homework. At the event, they can have a deeper, more engaging conversation.

Learn more

Career Intercom helps recruiters and career coaches ...
* Place more candidates
* Have happier clients
* Increase accuracy
* Save time

It does so by knowing each of your candidate's target companies, functions, positions and locations. Your candidate will manage their own list of targets. You can see this list so you can place them where they'd like to be. This makes your candidates happy.

Ask all of your candidates to put their information in this one central place so you can see them all at once. Imagine knowing that many of your clients are targeting Google. You'd want to increase your footprint within Google, right?

Yes, Career Intercom is available on any mobile device that has a web browser! This makes it easy to add pieces of information you learn when you out networking. It also makes it easy to update your targets when you're on the move. It also makes it easy to add friends. It's also useful for reviewing a new friend's targets to see how you can help, on the spot.

Speaking gets you noticed and it builds your reputation. It's a great way to give back to your community and peers. You will sharpen your abilities and get exposure to new friends.

You can speak about anything that you think will interest a particular group. Just make a list of topics and let the meeting organizers decide on which to pick. Whether you've got decades of experience or are a new graduate, you know many things that others would like to know more about. Think of all the things that interest you professionally or personally. Things you did at work that others would benefit from learning. Things you learned in school. Your hobbies. So on.

It doesn't have to be a hour long seminar. You could put topics up that are just 5 minutes long. There are organizations who just want several people for few minutes as say the 'opening band' if you will. There are other settings where there's a panel of speaker type of arrangement.

Career Intercom has been created because 9 out of 10 people will not share sensitive job search information publicly. However, they will share it privately. Just like at a real world networking event where you talk to someone one-on-one. During the conversation you decide whether or not to exchange private information. Career Intercom is built around that premise ... communicate one-on-one.

With Career Intercom you simply announce that you have quality, current, actionable information to share. Then, once someone contacts you, you decide if and what to share. You do not put any private, personal or confidential information on Career Intercom.

Purpose: Online social network to help job seekers help other job seekers by replicating online the data exchange that takes place offline.

Mission: Matching job seekers to help them find the right fit job, faster.

Email us at support@careerinter.com, if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback. We're just getting started so we would really like to hear from you.

During your job search process, you'll want to start certain website automatically to make it easier for you to stay current with all the activities there.

To automatically open Career Intercom when you start your browser, just follow these steps ...

Internet Explorer
* Go to Tools
* Go to Internet Options
* On the General tab, in the Home Page box, enter the http://dev.careerinter.com/
* Click OK

To Bookmark the Career Intercom into your Favorites folder, simply press Ctrl-d and enter.

Career Intercom's event sign up has a powerful benefit for all networking event attendees that no other site has. Attendees will know (ahead of the event) who at the event will be able to help them with their target list! This is a powerful incentive to attend the event. The event host will know that the people who need to meet eachother will do so. See screen images and a detailed explanation of this incentive ... here.

Networking organizations and groups can create events with sign ups (also known as RSVP or registration) on Career Intercom. This requires special privileges which can be obtained by asking here.

Once you have the privileges, you can create events with sign up capabilities. A 'Add a new event with sign up' link will appear in the calendar page.

Your networking organization will have access to all the attendees' event registration information.

Events without signups can be created by any Career Intercom member. Help your fellow networkers know about events you find out about.