Social Media Job Search: Kimba Green

Teaching job seekers and career changers to use social media as one strategy in their job search is a component of my Design Resume career packages. In both Career Thought Leaders Conference and Career Management Alliance Conference this year, we were taught new strategies and encouraged to bring our clients into the full use of Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, and Facebook for the job search.

I keep my eyes peeled for people using social media effectively in general but especially in the job search. I noticed that both Jonathan Krass and Kimba Green were now connecting with the career community on Twitter. After connecting with them myself, I asked them both if they would like to participate in my blog to let others know what is going on and how they see it working. Kimba’s story is below and Jonathan’s is in this post. This will be the first time I release two posts on the same day but since they are both current job seekers, I want them both to be able to have equal time.

Kimba Green

Kimberly “Kimba” Green’s LinkedIn profile starts with this branding statement:

Project Manager that gets the job done with a strong intact team under budget!

Currently, Kimba is in the Washington DC Metro area, her last position was with Metro Star Systems as Project Manager of a team of 18 with a 3.8million contract tasked in developing curriculum and CBT’s for a 3 week training course for the US Marines. Her resume says:

Directed development of the training delivery for TCWS (Tactical Collaborative Work Suite) to include server virtualization; fibre-channel and IP-based storage arrays and storage networks; updated collaboration technologies including SharePoint portal/asynchronous collaboration, Adobe Connect and Japper XCP synchronous collaboration capabilities; and modern Enterprise Services Management capabilities.

Kimba’s basic impression of social media in the job search:

“It has provided an education on how to get in front of more people, make connections, read opinions and ask experts for advice directly. The education is broader than just my job search. Education in PM as far as new trends in methodology, latest software releases & reviews, chance to learn & test software, politics, social media tools, marketing in social media, strategic planning of my career, resume writing, hiring trends, & how to recreate myself.”

Kimba honed her skills as the Founder and President of Hatmander, where as a Business Development Consultant, her business model provided contracting services to start-ups, first providing direction to companies and then training others to provide the same services and focusing herself on seeking contracts to send her team of experts to help refocus struggling businesses. Her resume reads:

Directed start-up planning with ongoing support functions including accounting, financial reporting, human resources, procurement, and administrative services for 25 companies… Researched and analyzed client market and re-focused business in response to market changes, making sure clients were always offered quality and competitive products in the industry.  Repeatedly exceeded client production levels and ROI targets.

Kimba goes by @KimbaGreen on Twitter. She started her blog called“What’s the word, Jellybird” on September 18, with her post, Why am I here again which began with:

“My years of experience has shown me that a successful project comes from your team and the relationship you establish.  Projects fail due to lack of communication.  That is the human side of PM.  When communication breaks down, and it will, you must be ready to jump in.  If you don’t that funnel cloud will leave with your project!”

Kimba, like Jonathan, is combining social media job search networking with what we call “Real Life Job Search Networking.” Kimba attends multiple networking events, including user groups such as SharePoint, Social Media, Blogging, Tech, Media, and PM. She goes to Tweet-ups and connects with recruiters in real life.

How has she been using her time?

• Kimba won a scholarship for Project Management (PMP) certification from RMCProjects.com run by Rita Mulcany, a leading industry trainer in PMP.
• She co-founded a youth soccer club consisting of 7 teams. Currently she is working to change soccer clubs organization by developing a “member management system” to run in website’s background, allowing ease of use by players and parent. Elimination of busy flash graphics will allow quick mobile use for “on the go” directions to fields.
• Always creatively thinking, Kimba has participated in conferences by realizing that often conferences need team members to run them. By volunteering as a conference team member helping to organize and manage conferences, she has been able to benefit from their content.

Many testimonies to Kimba’s talents can be found in her LinkedIn recommendations, but this one seemed to sum up Kimba for me.

“Working for Kimba was an experience I truly cherish. Simply put, Kimba is people-focused. With her grasp of personalities and knack for creating cohesion, she can take any team and turn it into a well-oiled machine…  But the most valued lessons that I learned from Kimba’s leadership was the poise she showed under pressure. Whenever anyone hit a stumbling block or fell into an inside-the-box trap, she managed to lift us back up and keep us on track.” — Mandi Gharavi, Instructional Designer, MetroStar Systems

Kimba’s goal is use her project management and expertise in developing training programs with a new company or project and believes that her passion for social media will enhance any company’s value.

Her advice to people thinking of using social media for a job search:

1. Have a plan for connecting (not just a plan for connecting but a plan for your job search as a whole. Break it down into tasks, like a Project Plan. Have a broad view.)
2. You need to be engaging and get out there and make it happen.
3. It gives you an education on how complex the career industry is and how many things you need to know to successfully land a job.
4. Connect with more than just your industry of interest. Broaden your view by connecting with many quality connections.
5. Read books and blogs!

You can find Kimba through most of the links on this post but here is the easy version:

1. Blog
2. LinkedIn
3. Twitter

Social media adds a new dimension to the job search and there are growing resources for you out there. So like Kimba and Jonathan, perhaps you should take the plunge and make it part of your career plan.