The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

This is How “Community” Accelerates Anyone’s Career

This is How “Community” Accelerates Anyone’s Career

The value of the value exchange “community” creates multiple opportunities to boost your visibility to recruiters and employers. 

Whether or not you believe the often-quoted statistic that 70-85% of jobs are found through networking, there are online groups of like-minded people who help job seekers and influence the outcome of a job search. Sharing resources, knowledge, and tools creates a powerful experience for those who give and those who need help. Regardless of whether they’re organized “job clubs,” a community can bring success.

A community is created around an industry, skill, goal, or idea. Support, camaraderie, and organic connections deepen as ideas and interactions between members grow. When people find their community, whether they follow one another on the platform is secondary to online content and value exchange by participating. Engagement through commenting, posting, or “adding two cents” makes the user more visible. It’s a robust referral engine, not built on the promise of a “job referral.” Information, resources, and relationships drive creativity and meaning, making it a more powerful referral engine than a web search engine.    

Many people say they belong to a fantastic community. But how can you tell if a community suits your needs during a job search?

Active community members catch the attention of recruiters.

Recruiters often identify the best-qualified candidates in specialized or industry communities. In addition to using tools such as keyword searches, advanced filters, and sourcing, they also look for expertise and engagement. It’s a sample of who the person is and if they are a cultural fit. 

A great community is an army of great mentors and problem solvers. 

Great communities create value from the overflow of their hearts, knowledge, resources, and time. Members are interested in finding what you need and are generous. When you find a community consistently offering nuanced advice and guidance, it feels like you belong. Members who value accountability enjoy accepting challenges to help them reach their personal goals and gain the most from their involvement in the community. 

A great community is networking on steroids.

A strong community is a collaborative effort to create desirable outcomes instead of just answering questions. Most people add people to their connections to achieve their personal networking goals. The support and energy of the community are infectious and create momentum. As a job seeker, the more you participate, the more it enhances your job search and learning experience.  

Honesty and integrity are the foundations of a great community. 

As a new member, if a group of people appears too good to be true, it probably is. The best groups will have members with contrarian points of view who care about providing correct and relevant information for job seekers. Opposing views are discussed amicably while respecting the space and experience of the people. This dynamic provides a framework for job seekers to deploy strategies that work for them. You grow to trust and embrace the advice, confirming the adage, “Many advisers win the war.” 

Good communities motivate and inspire longevity. 

Your job search efforts are controlled, but the hiring decisions are with the employers. It could take months to get a job in some industries. Most people need others to be in the trenches with them, if not by experience, at least in spirit. Everyone knows job searching is hard, even if they have what companies need. LinkedIn users who announce they are “Open to Work” using the #opentowork hashtag and banner and share their layoff or quitting experience receive high visibility. Their visibility is several times higher when their community reposts the announcement on their network. The announcement often draws attention from recruiters, supportive comments from others outside their network, and encouragement to keep going. 

Great communities amplify your achievements and impact your efforts.

Great advice and counsel get shared through what people learn and pass on or how they are personally affected. Their testimonies can add significance to a message from its members. Good ideas enhance discussion and participation, and additional content expands its reach outside the community and adds to its unofficial numbers.   

Not all communities will meet every need of an individual. Most people will look at comments and won’t participate, but they miss out on the value of participating in discussions. While recruiters and talent acquisition professionals find non-participants on social platforms, the boost from participating is significant. Don’t forget recruiters and employers are watching and looking for future employees who are already part of their community or similar communities in which you’re already participating. 

If you want to learn what you can about job scams, what to do when confronted with one, and what to do next when you’re a victim, I got you! Join my Substack newsletter and community, “The Job Scam Report!” The cost of a cup of coffee per month provides complete access to all job scam resources, articles, and the Substack ONLY podcast.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

How Easterseals Help Older Workers Breakthrough In Their Job Search

How Easterseals Help Older Workers Breakthrough In Their Job Search
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Empowering senior job seekers: Insights with Dion Smith of Easterseals!

In this episode of ‘The Voice of Job Seekers,’ host Mark interviews Dion Smith, Manager of Programs and Compliance at Easterseals. They discuss the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), which helps job seekers aged 55 and older transition from volunteerism to employment.

Funded by the Department of Labor, this Title V program offers training through partnerships with nonprofit and government agencies, providing participants with a stipend and job-related skills. Dion highlights the importance of digital skills and collaborations with tech companies like IBM to enhance employment readiness.

Please visit Easterseals.com or the Department of Labor’s website for more information on local SCSEP opportunities. 

00:41 Meet Dion Smith from Easter Seals

00:57 Overview of the Senior Community Service Employment Program

 01:38 How the Program Works

02:15 Finding Local Projects and Host Agencies 03:12 Program Duration and Flexibility

 03:53 Q&A: Funding and Grants

05:36 Combating Ageism and Building Skills 06:00 Importance of Digital Skills

06:42 IBM Partnership and Digital Intelligence

07:42 AI in the Workforce

08:56 Final Thoughts and How to Get Involved  

Here are three ways you can join the conversation:

– Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number

– Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen, and leave a message

– Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

If you haven’t already subscribed, be sure you Join “The Job Scam Report community!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

Surprisingly, Scammers Will Leverage Who You Know Against You

SurSuprisingly, Scammers Will Leverage Who You Know Against You by Mark Anthony Dyson

Scammers vary their online attacks and schemes to access your data. One such scheme, known as ‘jobfishing,’ is a form of catfishing in which scammers use fake job postings to lure unsuspecting victims. This is why I created “The Job Scam Report!” 

They may use various platforms, including social media sites like LinkedIn or text messaging. There are few places online today where you can relax without remaining vigilant of scammers that masquerade as answers to your problems. As we do everything on my blog, this discussion is about jobs.

For this article, I will focus on text messages because of a recent attempt to scam me using a company I’ve worked with to lure me into a scheme. My clients are usually job sites or companies who hire me to produce job search, career, or workplace content for them.

I was recently sent a text by a scammer who pretended to be the company’s founder and texted me first to verify the number was associated with me. I thought this was plausible, but I was miffed they wanted to text me when, in the past, we communicated via email or Zoom. They tried to get your boy (me) but to no avail. They failed this time. I am self-aware enough to know I’ll be tested occasionally.

“I’m currently in a conference call meeting and need you to complete a quick task. Are you available?”

I responded, “I can be in 10 minutes.”

This was a mistake, but the more I communicated with the scammer, the more I realized it wasn’t the founder because of the request. I also confirmed it was my number (which I had never done before), and it could open me up for future scams (even if I block the number).

They directed me like an employee:

“I need you to provide a client with some gift cards for e-thank cards. Can you confirm if you can get Apple gift cards from Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Walgreens, 7-11, CVS, or any local grocery store nearby?” This is a common scam tactic where the scammer asks the victim to purchase gift cards, usually for popular retailers like Apple, and provide the card details to them. The scammer then uses these gift cards for their purchases, leaving the victim with a loss.

My thoughts were:

Wait, I’m not an employee. But, the request was completely uncharacteristic of the individual.

I sent a message to the actual person via LinkedIn and emailed an employee, asking them to authenticate the message. I never responded to the scammer again, but the founder and employee confirmed it was not the founder.

I suspect most people received at least one text prompting a potential victim to check out an opportunity. Here are a few of the ways scammers are using text to tempt you to buy into their scam job offer:

  1. Jobfishing (catfish for jobs or even phishing).

Scammers know they can get personal data this way, and cell phone numbers are easy to obtain. They masquerade as a company, and its victims are intrigued enough to apply and give some personal data. You’ll almost always get a fake job offer.

2. Payment scams.

The fake company will want you to purchase equipment with one of their counterfeit checks. They get job seekers to play the “transfer fund” game, which gives them access to personal account information, social security numbers, and other financial assets.

3. Training or certification scams.

We see many of these on LinkedIn where someone claims to have a certification from somewhere that needs to be accredited. People have a right to create their school of thought. There’s a grey line between a popular industry in an unregulated space and someone who claims success in the same industry.

What do you see in the methodology, published work in credible publications and organizations, and results from their collective clients as validation? Anybody who applies the same methods with a portion of the best practices achieves the desired result.  

4. Premium services.

Resume writing, interview coaching, or exclusive job listings are a slippery slope. While legitimate services exist, scammers often overcharge or provide poor-quality services that need to meet expectations.

When someone with deep knowledge solves complex problems, people can demand higher costs. It is credible if someone does it and has a team behind them with more knowledge and experience. The problem is with the unsolved problem they claim the ability to solve. If people are publishing proof, you can verify and vet them. If not, pass. 

Scams are typical, but their delivery and sophistication take victims for a ride. If you haven’t already, I have a checklist you should see on “The Job Scam Report” on Substack. Go and subscribe so you can keep up with the quickly changing schemes dominating our timelines and news.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development.

Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!"

You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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I moderated a panel on Wealth Management for executives by Black Enterprise Magazine in October 2023 in Miami.

I was interviewed on Scripps News show, “The Why!” 4/13/2023

I talked with John Tarnoff and Kerry Hannon of “The Second Act” podcast about job searching after 50 in October 2022.

I was on “The Career Confidante” podcast to talk about “boomerang employees” and “job fishing” in June 2022.

Making Job Search a Lifestyle With “Dr. Dawn Graham on Careers,” SiriusXM Ch. 132, Wharton School of Business May 2021

In May 2020, I talked with LinkedIn’s Senior News Editor Andrew Seaman on “#GetHired” Live.”

Beverly Jones, host of the NPR podcast “Jazzed About Work,” invited me back to talk job scams, job search trends, and AI tools in April 2024

WOUB Digital · Episode 183 : Job search expert Mark Dyson says beware of scams, know AI & keep learning

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