Write To Win!

Our topic this week comes from Ko. Mr. or Ms. Ko wrote me with the following letter: I’ve just graduated from university. I am really worried. I’m finished school, but I don’t think I have skills. What can I do to get skills?

Today I’m going to talk about what our listeners can do to “get some skill!”

First of all, Mr. or Ms. Ko…we all have some skills. They may not be as brilliant as we like YET, but we have them. They need to be developed. So don’t give up!!! “Yet” is a powerful word. We are works in progress. Who we are today is not who we will be tomorrow, if we are taking action toward growth! What are somethings that Ko can do to “get some skill”? Ko has options. There are ways to get job skills, to get experience. There are some obvious ways, and there are some not so obvious ways.

The obvious: take a part time job. Really recommend this. Gives you money. Earning money helps our self-confidence. It doesn’t need to be a perfect job. Take it and learn all you can. Throw your heart into it.

Second, volunteer. We talked about this a few weeks ago. There are many ways to volunteer. It’s up to you to find ways to help others achieve their goals. Again, throw your heart into this. Learn all you can. You’ll be surprised at all you learn.

The not so obvious: and this is my main point today: START WRITING! That’s right, start writing. But not just any kind of writing. I want you to start writing the kind of stuff that helps other people. I want you to start a blog. If we are preparing for a job interview, we should be researching companies, researching industries, practicing interview skills, learning how to prepare our resumes, practicing Toeic, and a number of other different things. I recommend you choose an area and start start writing about what you learn.

Become an expert by researching, and pass it on. Write a blog that teaches others. For example: If you are researching the pharmaceutical industry. What are you learning? What information are you getting that can be passed on to others? If you are benefiting from it, probably others could benefit from it. So write it. Teach it to others. If you have found some great advice on ways to prepare for Toeic, pass that on too. (I’m not talking copy and paste).

I’m talking about learning something, and explaining to it people. I'm talking about using your own words! You could take what I am telling you today, and write it on your own blog. I’m giving you advice, why not pass it on to others? Oh, but won’t others steal my ideas? Why should I help the competition?? What have you to be afraid of? This is a great chance to show that you are not afraid of competition. It’s a great chance to show your confidence. As you learn through research, as you teach through writing, you gain the intelligence, you gain the skill. You gain the power. No one can take that from you. Write weekly. And write consistently.

I recommend you focus your blog on only a few key areas. For example, you might focus it on Pharmaceutical Industry research. Or TOEIC test tips. On specific company information. I might focus it on “Things I’ve learned from various job interviews”. You can focus it on several areas, but try not to be too broad. I have a blog, but I focus only on Career Advice, Presentation Skills, and PR. My blog’s in the baby stage, but I’m learning as I go. So what do I learn? I learn how to use the technology. I learn how to communicate clearly and informatively. I learn how to research. I learn how to synthesize information. I learn how to share. I learn how to market myself. I also learn about industries. I learn about companies. Here’s a key to making your blog helpful. (Can also turn into a self-promotion tool. Online Social Networking is becoming HUGE! And can help you get a job).

Visit other blogs. Read and leave comments. Include a link to your blog. That way people will come and visit you. When you go into an interview, you can talk about your blog. Companies will probably see your commitment to the betterment of others as a good thing, they will see your skill and willingness to put more effort than what is necessary into the job hunt.

But I’ve no time to create this blog???

Yes you do. Searching for a job is a FULL TIME JOB! Building your skill-set is 2 FULL-TIME JOBS! When you’re sitting in front of your television, you can be asking yourself….hmm….is this the best use of my time?

Famous motivational guru Zig Ziglar once said, “When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.” Keep this in mind as you work on building your skill-set, your brand, your future through creating an informative, helpful, blog.

Remember, when you write you should be responsible and respectful. Yes it’s your blog, yes you can write what you want. But, it’s also your reputation. Social Networking is a powerful thing. Blogging is a powerful way to create your reputation. If you create bad information, if you write abusive information, if you act and write unprofessionally, you will lose.

What blogsites should I use?

There are many places to go. Blogger.com. Wordpress.com. myblogsite.com., thoughts.com. You can also use microblogging sites like Facebook and Twitter. The blog does not have to be perfect. It’s a work in progress, just like us. Once we publish, we have the freedom to rewrite and edit. It’s our duty, in fact, to always improve upon what we learn.

But I don’t know how to write???

Me too? So what? No one does….at first. But, keep writing. Learning is only done through doing. We act and we learn, we don’t think our way into knowing, we don’t think our way into a skill. Skills come from action. But I can't write English!!! Don't write it in English. Write it in whatever language is best for you, and will help most people.

But everyone has a blog like this!!!

So what! Then join the bandwagon. Do what everyone is doing....you never know, you might just find yourself a superstar blogger! We've all got unique talents that we can only uncover by doing new things. So try something new, you might just surprise yourself. So that’s all for today.

Keep up the fight, Job Warriors!!!! Michael Jay….out!