One thing I notice is the vast amount of articles coming around that are talking about interviews, their processes and their tips. I want to give a different perspective; try doing the same thing everyone else is from a different country. It actually makes it a lot tougher, even though you might not think so.

My Problem

If you follow my blog you realize, I’m currently studying in Alicante, Spain, my 3rd year of my international business major. As much as I am loving it, it makes apartment hunting and job hunting for the upcoming summer and school year much more difficult.

As much as I would love to send in a snail mail copy of my resumé or give a quick ring to the HR department of wherever I would like to apply, it financially isn’t that feasable. Doable, just not reasonably. The benefits of using some direct contact methods that help by being stateside:

• You usually get to talk to someone, and if you’re anything like me thats much more reasurring than sending your resumé into the black hole of the online database.
• The advantage of the company receiving a physical copy of your resumé shows not only your persistence but your will to succeed and advance in the working world

The Realization

The first step is realizing you have a problem. When you get stuck in a difficult situation, you probably already know it. So understanding that you are in this pickle is naturally the first thing you need to do. Then after that you can begin focusing on ways to rectify, and make the problem one that is almost non existent.

The Solution

Anticipation. The simple fact that you can anticipate these problems make the solution much easier. My Suggestions:

• Skype: If you haven’t found the many many benefits of Skype yet, I suggest giving it a try. Should you be called for an interview you have an economical and practical way to conduct a phone interview on the cheap, especially if YOU have to call.
• Google Voice: 2 benefits here: Recorded transcriptions and a proper phone number where you can receive a transcribed voicemail in case you get a call back.
• LinkedIn: The online resume: get connected, get out there, and get known.

Naturally, I’m still going through my application process for this summer, but as more develops and more comes my way, I’ll be more than happy to clue you in on my tips. If you have any please leave them in the comments.

Image by Ben Heine

BenHeine.com

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

Chris Brogan today mentioned hotels having a social network of their own. As I am Front Desk and Part Sales Associate for Hilton Garden Inn Durham – Southpoint, this really took me and made this post. My suggestions are as such:

Mashup – Brightkite with Twitter and the hotel companies, Starwood, Hilton, Marriott, and the other majors. Give them a division of BrightKite, this would keep people in the hotel connected. This could yield to coworking, productivity, new connections etc.

Bring in the Companies – Use the new program to have links on the hotel’s main website, similar to a hotel’s blog the guests can connect through there and intermingle.

Connect the Hotels First – Bring the hotels together first on a blog or twitter, etc. Let them talk to eachother to get new ideas, suggestions, and management tips. Through this, the management or customer service can connect to the guests themselves. This relates to Southwest, Zappos, JetBlue and other companies being online to help.

Text to Hotel – With this service, allowing people to text an arrival time to the hotel’s blog, or social network, they can text in an arrival time allowing the hotel to be better prepared on Check In. This happens a lot that people want to check in early but they cannot because the hotel is not prepped for an early check-in. Allowing the hotel to be prepared comes in great hand.

Professional Networking – Think LinkedIn Live once a month, at your local hotel. Professional meetings through the hotel’s website!

What do you think? Would these ideas work?