Help A PR Pro Out

It’s been 14 days since the HAPPO event on Feb. 19. In that time, we’ve heard great stories. A number of job seekers shared with us how HAPPO made a difference, including:

Jackie Lloyd: Today’s HAPPO was fantastic! As a job seeker, it let me connect with so many professionals I would have never had the opportunity to communicate with or follow on Twitter.

Sarah Haas: My most helpful contact was Mary Barber who not only posted my HAPPO blurb on her blog but also connected me with experienced senior level public relations professionals in my area. I am very excited to connect with these individuals and it would not have happened without HAPPO.

And, read Aubrey Mondi’s comment if you want to see the full effect HAPPO had for one job seeker last month.

We’ve also seen continued momentum after the Feb. 19 event. Between 150-200 tweets each day using the #happo hash tag. People still want to help–and clearly, people are still looking for work.

But what’s next? That’s the question we continue to hear.

On April 30, we will hold our next HAPPO event. And, with this event, we’d like to focus on student job seekers since graduation will be just weeks away. After brainstorming and discussing with many of the HAPPO champions, we felt a quarterly HAPPO event made sense–at least for the foreseeable future. Look for more specific details about this event later this month.

We also wanted to find a way to keep the conversation going between events. A way to connect job seekers with PR practitioners between those quarterly HAPPO dates. So, starting Monday, March 8, we’ll start a weekly hash tag-based conversation around a number of topics relevant to today’s PR job seeker. You’ll be able to chat with pros and fellow job seekers about topics ranging from the best resume format to interview tips to networking best practices. It’s designed to be a weekly event, so if you can’t hop on Twitter to chat Monday, just check back later in the week. The topic will also change each week, so while one topic may not interest you this week, next week the discussion may pique your curiousity. Check back with the HAPPO blog Monday for more information, including next week’s topic.

We have a number of other great ideas on the table, too. Including Justin Goldborough’s notion of asking current pros to review resumes of those looking for work and offering advice. We’re definitely going to find a way to keep that going. But, we’re also considering a number of other ideas. We just have to figure out what’s feasible given people’s time and interest. Stay tuned for more.

In the meantime, if you’re a job seeker, look for the hash tag conversation next week and start preparing now for the April 30 event. Dust off your resume and update your LinkedIn profile. Start connecting with colleagues and new people–on and off Twitter. And, think about different ways to approach your job search. Those are the foundational elements of HAPPO. And, we hope we can continue to make a difference for you in your hunt.

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