networking for work - press release
TRANSCRIPT
Press Release
‘Talk About Local’ Launches ‘Networking for Work’ New Online Profile Training Tool To Help Unemployed Get Back to Work
National training experts Talk About Local are launching Networking for Work, a new UK project providing unemployed people of all ages with the skills to take control of their online profiles whilst promoting themselves more effectively to potential employers through an online support network.
Recently funded by major UK charity Nominet Trust, Networking for Work will provide users the skills to promote themselves to employers online in a memorable and engaging way and the opportunity to build a highly useful online support network using simple online tools e.g. Blog, Facebook page, LinkedIn/Twitter profile, etc.
Whether newly or long term unemployed, or for those looking to move job or are about to be made redundant, Networking for Work will not only provide the tools to help users improve their online ‘employability’; it will also help people protect themselves from employers’ inappropriate Googling and Facebooking for non-professional information.
A set of flexible training materials, Networking for Work will be delivered via trainers to small groups in a classroom setting, one-on-one or self-guided on the internet when it officially launches later this year.
Funded by major national charity Nominet Trust, resources are to be made freely available to small and medium sized companies and individuals from September 2012.
In 2012 the internet is crucial to successful job hunting and candidates need to look good online - not just have a nicely polished CV. Recent research indicated that 77% of employers look for candidates in search engines with 35% admitting they eliminated a candidate because of what they found online. Only 33% of candidates actually bothered to search for information on themselves, to see what their prospective employer might find out. (Execunet, The Guardian 12 April 2011).
During the next 12 months Talk About Local will deliver and refine Networking for Work training to unemployed people and trainers within organisations who work with them across the UK to build a new product that can be adopted by larger training providers.
William Perrin, Director of Talk About Local said: “New digital tools and social networks that have grown in popularity over recent years make it much easier for us to make those much-needed connections and access opportunities but they also present a new set of issues for job hunters, which Networking for Work is looking to address. Through Networking for Work we want to give the unemployed the skills to take control of their online persona, so that they project a professional profile to prospective employers. In 2012 if an employer wants to know about you they google you or look for you on Facebook. If you don’t look good there you’ll never hear back”.
Case StudiesCarolyn Powell, former Enterprise and Partnerships Co-ordinator at Midland Heart Housing Association - whose Burslem Job Club in Stoke on Trent has participated in the pilot phase of Networking for Work training - said: “The Networking for Work training added hugely to our job club. It's an area that many of the group members hadn't even thought about. It's almost as though the online world is one place and they are in another one, and the two hadn't linked up. Whilst they might use the internet for say, shopping or various different things, they hadn't really connected it with seeking work or what it means to be seen online or even that you can be. So, it's been incredibly important and something of an eye-opener to many of them.”
Sourour Trevelyan, Project Co-ordinator at Birmingham Settlement, whose Aston job club have also participated in pilot Networking for Work training said: “Networking for Work has been a massive asset to our job club...It’s like going for an interview. Online you project yourself to a different public, to people that you don’t know. So it’s about putting all the best of yourself and your skills and your experience and your life on social media without those things going against you.”
Training resources are currently being created and are available as part of the ongoing development at www.networkingforwork.org.uk. Case studies will feature interviews with a range of unemployed people who've been through the training and the trainers within organisations who work with them.
Networking for Work materials are to be made available under a permissive creative commons licence in order to maximise their reach. To find out more about Networking for Work, see some of the resources under development and read user's experiences of them, view the project website at www.networkingforwork.org.uk. You can also follow @talkaboutjobs on twitter.
If you'd like to learn more, or enquire about participating in the training, contact the Talk About Local team by emailing [email protected] or telephoning 0121 288 2910.
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For more information please contact:Nicky Getgood, Communications Manager at Talk About LocalTel: 0121 288 2910 Email: [email protected]
Notes to editors
Talk About Local has been helping people to find a powerful online voice since 2009, training people and giving them simple skills to use digital tools to create an online voice for themselves and their communities for free. For more information, please visit: http://talkaboutlocal.org
A Creative Commons license is one of several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/
Midland Heart is one of the top ten housing and care organisations based in the UK. For more information, please visit: http://www.midlandheart.org.uk/
Birmingham Settlement helps people lead happy fulfilling lives, offering offering independent guidance and support to those facing financial difficulty, isolation or social exclusion. For more information, please visit: http://birminghamsettlement.org.uk/
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