Robertson Reader: June 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Career Blogging 101 - Getting People to Your Blog (Part 1: Blog Commenting)

Cover of "Blog!: How the Newest Media Rev...

It's been awhile since I wrote a post for the Career Blogging 101 tutorials, so I thought I would talk about what I would ask next - how to get people to read my blog! Because we know there are countless numbers of bloggers out there that don't get noticed. So how do you avoid being one of them?

Before we get into that though, I want to remind you of two things:

First, there have been three previous posts in the Career Blogging 101 series that you should read before this one so if you haven't read them yet go and read these:

The second thing I want to remind you of is our Robertson College Facebook Page. There are many benefits to being part of our Facebook page but the two main ones are that when you "Like" us you get access to a How to Choose A Career Workbook (whether you are enrolled at the school or not) AND you also have a chance to ask questions and you can even tell me what you would like me to blog about - including what you would like to be included in the Career Blogging 101 series!

Now, on to the blog ...

You can write the most mind boggling, inspiring, intellectual blog post on the Internet but if you don't put some effort into getting people to your blog (traffic) no one is going to read it and your blog will serve very little purpose. So, for the next few segments of the Career Blogging 101 series I'm going to talk about ways that you can get the traffic flowing.

The first thing I want to talk about is blog commenting. Blog commenting is great for several reasons:

You have to actually read the blog posts to it can also help you to get ideas for your own blog posts.
By commenting on others' blog you begin to build a network and your network will share, like, and tweet your blog posts.
You get to leave a link to your blog when you comment.

When you leave a comment to someone else's blog post you are usually given an option to leave your website. When you have published your comment, your name should be clickable and when people click on it they will be directed to your blog and if what you have written is interesting they will read it.

This is the gist of blog commenting. It is not rocket science. There are a couple things you should keep in mind:

Spam is never acceptable. That means that you should never leave comments like "Great post."
Leave comments that contribute to the conversation. Share your knowledge or your opinion.
Don't be rude. Even if there is something that you don't agree with and you want to say so, you can do it in a polite way.

MOST blogs commenting systems are "nofollow" - that means that while search engines will recognize that there is a link back to your site, and they will index the link, they will not consider it when it comes to page rank. Some bloggers consider this a big deal. It really isn't. Page rank means very little in the big picture. But, if you really want to consider that, you can look for blogs that have CommentLuv enable. These let you leave not only a link to your blog but a link to your latest blog post. Besides the fact that your link to your blog will be "dofollow" the link to your latest blog post will hopefully peak someone's interest and encourage them to go and check out your blog post.

Try to leave comments on a variety of blogs - both blogs that are popular and blogs that are less popular. The popular blogs are likely to have loads of comments already but if you can be among the first few to comment you might get some nice traffic. Blogs that are less popular don't have the same level of traffic but they might be more targeted to the topic of your own blog and the bloggers that own the blogs are more likely to go and read your blog and maybe even feature you in a future blog post or recommend you to someone.

So, an easy way to start getting traffic to your career blog is to start commenting on others' blogs. Try and and see what kind of response you get.

Now, before I leave you for the day, I'm curious - have any of you started a career blog because of this series? If you have, please leave a comment and a link to your blog. I'll create a link list of your blogs if there are enough of you!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

We've Been Nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award!

See that new button on the corner over there? ----->

Robertson Reader has been nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award in the Education category!

What does it mean? It means someone appreciates us. :)

What are the Canadian Weblog Awards? From their site:

The Canadian Weblog Awards promote good weblogs of all genres from across Canada year round through regular interviews, articles, and the nomination, judging, and an award process that culminates with the announcement of the top three weblogs in each category on January 1st. The Canadian Weblog Awards are about quality not popularity, so there is no public vote. Each weblog is judged by a volunteer jury against a set of criteria. - The Canadian Weblog Awards

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Legal Administrative Assistant Graduate - Robertson College

Monday, June 13, 2011

Robertson College: Winnipeg, Brandon, Calgary, Online

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Using Gmail For Lists

Image via CrunchBase

If you use Gmail you can create lists that will help you keep organized and get things done. But did you know you can have multiple lists and you can name them however you like? You can.

On your left sidebar you should have a link for “Tasks” – this is your to-do list. If you didn’t know it was there it might go unused but it is something you can refer to throughout the day.

Once you have a “Task” started you can start adding things to the list. Simply click inside the box and enter text. When you’re done, hit enter, and you can add more.

Now, you hear it all the time but this makes it even easier to implement. You can have prioritized to-do lists with your Tasks! It’s simple to add a new list.

When you have a list up click on the little bulleted list with the arrow beside it in the lower left-hand corner.

This will bring up a mini list of options. Choose New List and a box will pop up and you can name it. You might want to name them by category or simply (as I’ve done), A List, B List, C List.

Repeat the actions of adding things to your list.

Now, as you’re creating you lists – or as time goes by, you may decide that an item on your C List should actually be on your B List. Click on the item and a little arrow will come up at the end of the item. Click on the arrow and a window will come up. Here you can add additional notes or a due date. But towards the bottom of that window you’ll see a little box that says “move to list” – click on the down arrow and you can move it to another list easily!

Now there’s no need for you to keep several lists in your purse or in a notepad (or as one instructor I know does, in several notepads!). You can access all of your links from Gmail, which is accessible from anywhere you can get Internet. Of course if you have a Blackberry or other PDA phone that means you can access it on the go, too!

Monday, June 06, 2011

So You Want to Be a Legal Assistant

A REWARDING CAREER IN LAW IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

“A career as a Legal Administrative Assistant is rewarding and challenging.” states Jordan Fuchs, Marketing Associate for Robertson College. “Several different job opportunities exist for graduates of this program”

Robertson College offers an eight month Legal Administrative Assistant program that prepares students for a career in the legal profession. Upon completion of the program, students can find employment with public and private sector legal departments, as well as private law firms. Throughout the program, students learn topics such as such as legal terminology, legal transcription, law office administration, and computer skills. Students participate in a two-week practicum at the end of their program. “Typically, we find students who this career have a strong interest in law.” comments Debra Stockwell, Vice Principal of Robertson College. “Key qualities that employers are looking for are the ability to multi-task, be organized, and be detail oriented. As well, lawyers look for an assistant that can provide courteous service to clients.”

Robertson College is also establishing a reputation as an industry leader in integrating technology into student’s learning. The Winnipeg Campus is the first of the three Robertson College campuses to provide Laptop or Netbook computers to its students as part of the College’s new Technology Initiative. This technology provides students the freedom they need to study wherever - whenever they like. Each computer comes fully loaded with the notes, textbooks, and materials needed to be successful in their course. “We are excited have taken this next step as a college.” comments Ken Penner, President of Robertson College. “The Technology Initiative allows students to take the classroom with them wherever they go.”

Graduates of the Legal Administrative Assistant program have great success in finding employment. Nearly 100% of graduates have found employment with local law firms. some with the largest private firms in Winnipeg. “The demand for Legal Administrative Assistants is solid.” comments Fuchs. “Several positions were listed this week on job sites such as Workopolis.com and WowJobs.ca.”

Legal Administrative Assistant salaries can range from $30,000 - $53,000 according to the Manitoba Job Futures website.

If you are interested in pursuing a career as a Legal Administrative Assistant or if you would like to learn more, please visit www.RobertsonCollege.com, email Info@RobertsonCollege.com or call (204) 943-5661 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (204) 943-5661 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Robertson College began providing career training in 1911, now has 3 campuses in Western Canada and conducts training in Asia and Africa. Remaining true to its roots, the College head office is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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Sunday, June 05, 2011

Student Profile: Asleigh Logan

Welcome to the first Graduate Spotlight! The Graduate Spotlight will be another ongoing feature at The Admin Professional, similar to Admin Jobs Today. I'm very excited to bring you this first interview with Ashleigh Logan, who graduated from the Administrative Professional and Bookkeeper course, because she impressed me so much in the time that I had to get to know her.   She took her work seriously but wasn't afraid to have fun. She worked hard and she was eager to start on her job search!

AP:       First, there are many business colleges to choose from so why did you choose Robertson College?

AL:      A close friend of mine had done the same program about a year earlier, and had been successful in finding a really good job. Her recommendation and first hand information of the class really helped me make a decision.

AP:       What course did you take?

AL:      Administrative professional/bookkeeping.

AP:       How long did it take for you to graduate?

AL:      I believe it was 4 months. [note: this was not including the 2 week practicum]

AP:       What did you like most about the course?

AL:      I liked that it was short and I could get back to working very quickly. I also liked how small the class was. If you needed help, or had a question, the teacher was right there.

AP:       Tell me about your instructor. What did you like about how she/he taught?

AL:      I liked that you kind of felt like your friend was teaching you. It was a very laidback environment. I also liked how thorough she was in covering all the material and she made sure we had all the tools to be extremely prepared for tests.

AP:       There is more staff at business colleges that keep things running and have frequent interactions with students. What did you think about the support staff such as student advisors, receptionists, and so on?

AL:      I did not have a lot of interaction with other staff at the college, but everyone seemed very friendly. Debra Stockwell [vice-principal] especially, she always wanted people to be having fun while they were there.

AP:       Part of the business courses at Robertson College includes doing a two week practicum [it is currently 4 weeks now] where you gain experience in your field. Can you tell me what that was like?

AL:      That gave me time to get to know the job before had to make a decision about working there. For both the student and the employer it is a test period to make sure it's a good fit. It was nice to gain the experience.

AP:       When you finished your practicum you received a job offer. Was that from your practicum? Why do you think you received a job offer so quickly?

AL:      Actually, in the offer I accepted, I was given the job based on my resume and interview. I did do my practicum with this company, but at the end of the 2 weeks, I knew that I already had the job. I think that I was offered the job prior to completing my practicum because my resume showed that I had all the skills they were looking for, and I was prepared for my interview. I presented myself in a way that worked for their company.

AP:       What skill that you learned at Robertson College contributed most to your quick employment?

AL:      I would say all the computer skills, specifically Microsoft Word and Excel.

AP:       Now that you are employed can you tell me what skills you use the most?

AL:      I use Excel and Word often at work, and people look to me for help with things they're not sure how to do.

AP:       What advice would you give people that are interested in becoming an administrative assistant?

AL:      I would tell them that computer skills and people skills are the 2 most important things. You will be sitting in front of a computer every day, so know how it works! And if you can master how to talk to people, you will get hired. Once you have the job, you can prove how valuable you really are.

AP:       What advice would you give to graduates that are now looking for a job?

AL:      Make sure your resume is flawless. Spelling and grammar mistakes can have a bigger impact then you think. Also, be prepared for the interview. Practice the night before, and know your answers to their questions before you get there.

AP:     Is there anything else you'd like to share?

AL:      After Robertson College, I had 3 interviews. I received an offer from all 3 employers. I know it was because of my cover letter, resume, and interview. I can't stress enough how important a good cover letter, and resume are. You need to make a good impression. It doesn't matter how good your skills are. If you can't make it past the interview, you won’t get a job.

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