I hope that everyone is enjoying our interview series about professionals getting jobs because of their proactive use of social media! Today I have the honor of introducing you to Gwen Darling who has a very interesting, unique and inspiring story of how she got a job offer because of LinkedIn. In this story you will see how Gwen started in the early days of the Internet, absorbed all the knowledge she could, took a monumental risk that paid off and how she rose to the top to where she is now. All of this and more below!

What is your background and area of expertise?

My background is quite eclectic – as an English major I always sought creative opportunities that would also pay the bills.  Sometimes those are hard to find!  In 1996 I found myself the divorced single mother of 2 little girls, and knew I needed to find a way to leverage my creative talents and my innate knack for all things “techie.” I applied for a job with a very small company that had the vision to purchase domain names for all the nearby recreational lakes, and off I went to attempt to sell 3-page Web sites to Mom and Pop lakeside motel owners.  The problem was, the Internet was so new, no one knew what a Web site was (I was learning, too!), let alone how it could help them boost sales, so I found myself doing more educating than selling.  Of course that was back in the days of dial-up, and it took FOREVER to do a demo, so I figured out pretty quickly that this wasn’t going to be the road to riches, but I discovered I had a knack for explaining technical concepts in layman’s terms.

About that time, I ran across a company online called the “Mining Company,” which is now About.com.  Their Internet for Beginners Guide spot was available, so I applied and got the job, where I stayed for over three years, working remotely.  I had no idea how fortunate I was at the time – talk about learning the ropes from the master! As Guides, we had access to Internet visionaries who taught us about Content Management Systems, SEO, building community thru discussion boards and chat, e-commerce, affiliate programs, etc.  It was an unparalleled opportunity that set me on my career course in a very clear direction after that.  I emerged from that position in 2000 armed with knowledge and expertise that was tough to beat at that point in time.

Where did you work previously too your current job?

I worked for five years as President of Therapon Skin Health, originally hired to transform the company from a brick and mortar model to an Internet-based model.  Once that was accomplished, I left to direct the Sales and Marketing arm of a Travel Nurse company, where I stayed for two years.  It was the travel nurse company that I left in 2006 to strike out on my own.

You had six-months of savings and a lot of determination, but zero clients when you left you corporate job of a six-figure salary. Why did you take the risk and how did you know what to do?

My decision to leave was multi-faceted.  My two girls were now teenagers and I was very concerned that my leave early and come home late schedule would allow them a bit too much freedom, and I felt like our connection was getting lost in the shuffle of my professional commitments. I knew it was important to know their friends and their schedules, etc., but that was tough to do when I was gone all day.  Additionally, after having the authority to make decisions, and make them quickly at my previous position, the travel nurse company was set up such that the CEO had to approve all but the smallest decisions – company-wide.   It was extremely inefficient, and kept many of us from achieving the success we thought was possible.  I left work every day extremely frustrated.  So…I had one of those turning point moments – took my dogs for a long walk, decided I was tired of making money for everyone else, and set the wheels in motion the next day.  I went to Barnes and Noble and stocked up on “How to be a Consultant” books, set up an LLC, and two months later, let the Board know of my decision to leave.  To be honest, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do – I just had a “life is too short” to be unhappy breakthrough, and was determined to make it work.  Somehow. 

How did you hear about LinkedIn and what were you first thoughts when you joined it?

I first read about LinkedIn in my favorite business magazine that is now defunct, Business 2.0.  (CNN article on LinkedIn).  It was free to set up a profile, and I thought it made great sense, since I figured the reach of the LinkedIn network could only benefit me, much like the About.com network works to drive traffic to its individual Guide sites.  I wasn’t pinning any great hopes on it, though – just another spoke in the wheel.

Did you know what you were doing when you first signed up for LinkedIn and the potential behind it?

I’ve always been a “what if…” kind of thinker, and I did see the potential of the LinkedIn network, but it was more of a “aw hell, why not, it’s free” kind of decision.

How did the job opportunity present itself and develop?

About two months after posting my profile (and pretty much forgetting that I did), I got an email from some guy in Boston who was starting a healthcare staffing company – both travel nurses and Healthcare IT professionals. He had found my profile doing a keyword search and asked if he could call me.  Long story short, we talked, we clicked, and he asked me to come to Boston to meet with their company.  Turns out, the Chairman of this company ended up being an industry legend that I had read about and admired for a long time! All went well, and I was placed on retainer to help them with their marketing efforts – both online and offline.   As the company grew, it became clear that the Healthcare IT focus was the future of the company, and so I was introduced to the industry that is now my main focus!

Where do you work now and how has it changed your life?

After seeing a need in the industry, I launched a new resource in May that is now my primary project – HealthcareITCentral.com, a Career Center for Healthcare IT job seekers who are looking for their next opportunity, and Healthcare IT employers who are seeking them.  In addition to the Job Board, the site features many other resources for Healthcare IT professionals to learn more about the industry and how to successfully land and keep their “dream” job, and because of my extensive marketing background, I am able to offer Healthcare IT recruiters a comprehensive online strategy for attracting the best candidates.  In other words, this is my dream situation.  I am my own boss, call my own shots, am able to be both creative (I write a weekly blog for Healthcare Informatics magazine) and “techie,” and have a great deal of flexibility since I can work anywhere where I can get a few bars on my cell phone and an Internet connection.  My kids, who are now 19 and 17, have survived their teenage years intact, and so have I!  And I can say, with 100% certainty, I would not be in this Ideal situation if it weren’t for LinkedIn. (All that being said, though, this has not been an easy transition.  I am just now starting to gain the kind of traction I’ll need to get back up to where I was financially when I left corporate life – there have been a lot of sacrifices along the way – but all worth it.)

Now that you are a social media success story, what advice do you have for everyone else trying to do the same thing?

Developing a social media presence can be overwhelming – there are so many components and it can easily become such a time drain!  I frequently advise clients to develop a social media strategy before they jump in.  Actually I wrote a blog post to that effect:  http://tinyurl.com/ylnhxgu. It’s important to strategically develop your network, connecting with those people who can help you, but it’s also equally important to connect with those who you might be able to help, as well.  I am a firm believer in the “pay it forward” approach to life – and social media is a perfect place to put that approach into play.

Closing Thoughts

Wow, that is an amazing story! As you can see, Gwen leveraged her knowledge and experience in order to secure the job. LinkedIn was merely the means to get the foot in the door but it was her hard-work and determination that landed her the position. Check out Gwen’s LinkedIn Profile for for information and insight.

To continue with our series on job seekers getting jobs through social media, I would like to introduce you to Mark Cummuta. I found Mark via Twitter and found out subsequently that he received his latest job offer because of Twitter. Coincidence? I think not!

What’s your background and how did you first get started with Social Media?

I’ve been in IT product development and international business process improvement for almost 25 (twenty-five) years. I’ve been using Social Media for almost 10 years. Back in 2000-2003 I helped create the underlying technology for systems like Skype, WebEx & GoToMeeting when I was CTO & VP of R&D for a company called I-DEP. [After Microsoft, Real Media and Apple all told us it would be impossible.] We created video chat, chat rooms, private chat within group chats, whiteboarding, file sharing and more. So I’ve been a long-time believer in Social Media and Social Networking, especially as a means to improve business efficiencies, collaboration and communications.

When you first heard about Twitter, what were you initial thoughts about the service?

When I first heard of Twitter I thought it was just another IM (instant messaging) service.

When was the first time you actually used Twitter and why?

I created my first Twitter account in late 2008. For the first several weeks I simply watched, researched and learned. I then decided what voice and subjects I wanted to tweet about.  Specifically, I decided I would tweet on CIO/CTO, IT, Six Sigma, BPM, ITIL, SMB, startups, executive job search strategies and US defense topics.  I also thought ahead and created Twitter accounts for other aspects of my business.

Now you were able to get a job through Twitter, which is amazing.  How did you come upon this job opportunity and how long did it take for you to get hired?

Yes, I landed my job as CIO (Chief Information Officer) for JobAngels through Twitter.  I write / blog for CIO Magazine on executive job search strategies from a first person CIO’s perspective, so I frequently tweet about this subject and post my blogs to Twitter, as well.  The CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of JobAngels, Charee Klimek, started following me and commenting/retweeting my tweets. We eventually met in person, and she introduced me to Mark Stelzner the Founder of JobAngels. I think the whole process, from initial introductions between Charee and I, to me starting with JobAngels probably took about 4-6 weeks.

In your current job, do you use Twitter for businesses purposes and has this changed your perspective of Twitter based on your initial reactions to it?

I wear several hats — the CIO of JobAngels, the President of Triumph CIO Group, a writer and blogger for CIO Magazine, and as a leader for several national and regional IT groups and TLA Evening Session. For each of these roles I use Twitter to connect with other leaders in each of these spaces, to communicate with others, and to learn and share knowledge. As I’ve used Twitter more, I’ve realized its potential as another means of not only connecting, communicating and learning, but also for marketing, sales and branding opportunities.

So what is JobAngels? And how has Social Media – especially Twitter – helped you in your role there?

JobAngels is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to helping job seekers find meaningful and financially rewarding employment – one person at a time. We do that through our over 24,000 mentors nationwide, and even internationally now. Each of our mentors has agreed to helping at least one person in their goal of finding a new job, primarily by assisting them with things like resume reviews, interviewing tips and practice, networking strategies and assistance, etc. So while we are not a placement, search or temp service, rather what we provide is training in job search skills from both experts and every day people like you and me who want to help.

As for how Social Media and Twitter help me in this role, I am able to connect with and communicate with thousands of JobAngels mentors, job seekers, hiring managers, recruiters and HR specialists. Because of how Twitter is structured, I am able to communicate directly with interested individuals and organizations, with minimal interference and disruption.  Across a broader scale, JobAngels has a presence on LinkedIn, FaceBook, and on the internet itself as JobAngels (we hope to have our all new website out very soon), which we use to reach an even wider variety of markets.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see from this story, Mark got his job using social media because of his proactive attitude to get involved and provoke thought. This opened numerous possibilities for him when he started to interact with other professional in his industry and specific niche. While a lot of what Mark touched on may seem daunting, it was a process that took place over time as he had to prove himself to the outside world. I hope that this encourages everyone to start being proactive today and to get more involved! There are job opportunities everywhere, you just have to make sure you are looking in the right places and connecting with the right people.

If you have any questions for Mark about his story to clarify any part of it, please leave a comment below and we can talk!

To continue with our series on people getting jobs via social media, I give you Hans Mestrum. Below are a few questions I asked him to get a more in-depth look into how social media landed him a job. To make this story even sweeter, I come across him on Twitter.

What is your background, and how did you first get started with social media?

I am a teacher from Origin and worked at a school for 9 years. After that I moved to Tulip Computers and worked there for 19 years in the education business as a trainer, product manager, training manager, business unit manager and managing director. My last job there was Sr. strategic business developer/trend-watcher.

In this job I used a lot of social media and did a lot of presentations and workshop on social media (about 5 years ago) and set up my blog and my online presence (just type “hans mestrum” in Google).

When you first heard about Twitter, what were your initial thoughts?

First I did not see the potential of it but after a couple of weeks I started tweeting. I think someone invited me to join.

You were able to get a job through Twitter. How did you come upon this opportunity, and how long did it take to get hired?

I just tweeted the fact that I was in search of another job and someone of the university who was following me on my blog and Twitter saw this tweet and introduced me at the dean of the faculty of technology. I did not know him. Just followed his blog and he followed mine. He wrote 2 pages as a recommendation letter, based on my online presence. It was amazing to read how accurate it was, thinking of the fact that he did not know me personally.

An interim manager who wanted to set up an interview ASAP contacted me that same evening. The next working day I was meeting with the dean and two directors of the faculty and next day I was hired. So this is really twitterspeed.

There was no job, no vacancy, no description whatsoever online.

I was hired as new media specialist/blogger on the staff of the dean of the faculty. I report directly to her.

In your current job, do you use Twitter for businesses purposes? Has this opportunity changed your initial perspective of Twitter?

I am using all kinds of social media now to present the faculty and myself. I blog, tweet, yammer, video blog and anything interesting that students and teachers need to know about. People like it although some of my colleagues wonder what all this stuff does. But by just doing it they see the relevance of it.

What is HAN University of Applied Sciences, and how has social media – especially Twitter – helped you in your role there?

HAN University of Applied Sciences is a high school in Arnhem en Nijmegen (towns in the east of the Netherlands) with 25.000 students and about 2400 employees. We have an education, management/economics, health and sport and technology track.

I work on the faculty of technology and I am responsible for putting the faculty on the map by means of social/new media.

Do you teach others about Twitter now?

I did some presentation and guest lectures about new media. On some websites I am a HRM case in which my case is explained as the new way of job hunting.

Congratulations to Hans! Tell us if you know anyone who got a job using social media so we can feature them next.

Every day, an increasing number of job applicants get hired through social media rather than the traditional apply-blind-with-a-resume route. Over 83% of employers go online to get more information about potential applicants, so it’s essential to have a strong web presence and social networking skills. It was no surprise when I found out that Doug Haslam in my Personal Branding Group on BrazeenCareerist was hired via twitter.  I took the opportunity to interview him to give you the inside scoop on how he used Twitter to get a job.

1. How did you get started with social media?

Back in 2003/4 I was starting to see the rise of blogs, and contemplating from the outside how they might affect my work (as a marketing manager at a small research company at the time).  I ended up leaving and getting back into PR agency life before I could act on it, other than a tentative start at my own blog in early 2005.

2. What were your first impressions of Twitter, and why did you start to use it?

Very first impressions? I don’t need to know what my friends are doing at every given moment– this was October 2006. In Late February 2007, I started to see some of these friends get some real utility out of twitter (see this post for a very brief description)

I  finally gave in on on March 1, and still was skeptical of the noise, and wrote this post but followed only a week later with this one.

3. How did you create a job opportunity through Twitter?

What I did to create opportunity was to network with other PR people. One of those was SHIFT Communications principal Todd Defren. We were actually direct-messaging back and forth about some industry questions we had for each other (I would often come and comment on his blog, even though we were technically competitors), and at one point he flat out asked me if I would consider putting myself up for a position that was opening.

4. What is your current job, and do you use Twitter for it?

I am an Account Director at SHIFT Communications, overseeing an account team and working with clients at the program strategy level. I do use twitter– I’ll promote news for clients and the agency on my own account (with disclosure), but more importantly advise clients on their own use of twitter (among other tools).

5. Now that you’re a Twitter success story, what would you recommend our readers do to follow in your footsteps?

Find people to network with – people who are in your industry as well as people in your clients’ industries. The conversations you start and take part in will enhance your standing as an engaged careerist, and a plugged in worker.

Conclusion

Doug notes, “If people you need or want to reach on Twitter aren’t on Twitter, go where they are – that’s most important.” That could be LinkedIn, blogs, Facebook, or anywhere else they’re active online.

Doug’s story is an inspiration to job seekers everywhere, demonstrating that you can get a job through social media if you use it properly. There is a lot of clutter and noise on the web, so make sure you connect with the right people and turn that connection into something real.

If you know anyone else who has had success via social media to get a job, let us know so that we can feature them!

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