thecareerbeat.com Blog

New fields for the Twitterati

Did you know your passion for Twitter or Facebook could open up a new career? These habits are among several trendy pursuits that can make for surprisingly marketable job skills.

An article in the New York Times looks at one such job: Ghost Twitterer. Surrogates are writing “tweets” on the microblogging site Twitter for people like Britney Spears, 50 Cent, and even President Obama.

But Twitter-related jobs aren’t just for the star-crazed. Companies like Whole Foods and Comcast have employees who are finding innovative ways to use Twitter to reach out to customers and market the brands.

As this article on surprisingly marketable job skills suggests, people who constantly use Twitter and Facebook could also parlay the habit into a job as a social media publicist.

Similarly, you could become a professional blogger — a job that didn’t really exist a few years ago. This is a good gig for many journalists who may be hit by the widespread downsizing of newspapers.

To be fair, not all celebs use ghost twitterers. Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal told the Times: “It’s 140 characters. … If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.”

You can also turn other passions into professions. A love of travel is a must-have skill (among others) for a global mobility consultant. Like beer? (Who doesn’t?!) The job of brewmaster might be worth considering.

For more on these and other fascinating jobs, check out “The Best Jobs You’ve Never Heard Of.”

A touch of patriotism, and a plug

The festive photo below is part of a promotion for a panel that I am moderating next month called “Life After a Layoff: Your Job Is History But You’re Not.”

You can hear more about it in a podcast interview (scroll down the page until you see me, but feel free to listen to others!). My session is part of a conference for LGBT journalists held in the nation’s capital — in an election year, hence the virtual bunting.

The conference host, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), is a fine industry organization that has boosted my career in many ways, especially through networking and the professional development offered at the annual conferences. On the strength of my experiences, I recommend everyone get involved in a professional organization associated with his/her field.

In the meantime, Happy Fourth of July!

Surfing the waves at lunch hour

I love the read the New York Times on Sunday.

Today’s paper had a few work-related articles worth noting…

“Working Life (High and Low)” highlights some of the dangers and risks for people who are independent contractors, as exemplified by the infuriating chain of events in Jean Capobianco’s tenure with FedEx. But there’s also an interesting profile of Patagonia and how it values work-life balance for its employees — some of whom go out surfing during their lunch hour.

There’s also a column about the deluge of email, which is a common frustration for many workers. Alas the piece doesn’t offer much in the way of advice, so you might want to look here. (In fact, I need to do some inbox-clearing today…)

And the big investigation of military “analysts” that are trotted out on TV news revealed some disconcerting tendencies among the men (usually retired officers) who have this gig.

Blogging as a career

Interesting article in today’s SF Chronicle about how blogging has emerged as a possible career for some savvy entrepreneurs.

More and more journalists are getting into blogging, particularly as newspapers downsize. But it’s also interesting to me that more and more journalists in “traditional media” are starting blogs that supplement their print/broadcast work.

As a journalist, I think it’s important for me to familiarize myself with the process of blogging. I’m a bit of a johnny-come-lately to the blogging party, but it seems latecomers are still welcome. This blog is in fact part of my career development, so let the roller-coaster ride begin.