Have your skills recognized and valued in a supportive professional network.
Gain confidence and empowerment that comes from having a clear path.
Monetize Your Experience
Clarence
Clarence was a production supervisor at a manufacturing business for over 30 years. He recently took early retirement when that company was purchased. Now he’s starting his own consulting business to help new manufacturing businesses set up their production lines and safety systems. Skill Squirrel is making it easy for him to manage his availability and connect with others that offer complimentary capabilities. This gives him optimum flexibility, so he can work when he wants and with whom he wants.
Transform your career history to unlock new opportunities
Leverage Skills
Clarence developed a deep set of skills over his career. Working with a career coach he found on Skill Squirrel, he formulated a plan for starting his own business. He’s now using Skill Squirrel to market his business and develop professional connections.
Bookmark and Follow
While exploring groups he wants to reach in Skill Squirrel, Clarence found a few located in his area that he joined. As he came across interesting posts within those groups, he Bookmarked them, and as he came across impressive profiles, he Followed them. These techniques allow him to easily store and recall pertinent content from within his Account. He is now regularly attending a local meetup and has built new professional connections that have made some important introductions for him.
Create Profiles
When Clarence joins a group, he takes advantage of the opportunity to create a profile as a member of the group. Since he is working to get his business off the ground, he consistently uses his business name as the profile name and his logo as the profile image. Each profile is tailored a little differently to reflect the group’s focus and an applicable range of his services. It’s similar to how people have different resumes for pursuing different types of jobs.
Create Portfolios
Clarence upgraded his free account to a Startup subscription so that he could add portfolios to his profiles. Just as each profile is a little different, so too are his portfolios. A couple of elements he particularly likes to include in portfolios are personal videos and recommendations from his customers. He feels that portfolios add just the right amount of personal touch.
Create Posts
With his Startup subscription, Clarence can create Event and Service posts. Given his type of business, he has created Service posts that describe a particular offer, and he tailors them individually for the group they appear in, but he is also thinking of creating an Event post to bring together all the amazing new contacts he has made through Skill Squirrel in celebration of his business’s one year anniversary.
Endorsements and Recommendations
Clarence has a real knack for getting positive endorsements and recommendations. It shows through on his profiles and portfolios, but honestly it has more to do with his credibility. He has proven himself to be a trustworthy service provider. Plus, he regularly gives endorsements and recommendations to other members in the private groups he belongs to. Clarence believes that if you treat others with respect and fairness that you are more likely to receive the same back.
Gain Employer Confidence
Mallory
This is Mallory. She's a recent college graduate seeking to enter a creative industry. Having spent a lot of time and energy applying for jobs, but not getting interviews, she's learned that her chosen industry is based very much on who you know not just what you know. To establish industry connections, she has joined relevant groups on Skill Squirrel to find out about industry events, and she volunteers her time to develop in-demand skills. Her objective is to earn some skill endorsements, recommendations, and digital credentials that she can announce on her socials to build awareness of her capabilities for securing her preferred job.
Build a portfolio of skills recognized industry-wide
Explore Groups
When Mallory graduated from her program, she was eager to get her new career started. However, she didn’t know anyone working in the industry she wanted to enter. She had co-op placements through college, but they were not closely aligned with her interests. She joined Skill Squirrel to find relevant groups she could join and start networking within by volunteering and going to events.
Filter for Relevance
Noticing that some posts offered the ability to earn Verifiable Credentials, Mallory prioritized those options, along with location and accessibility. Also, since she has a physical disability, she particularly appreciates posts that included details on Physical Demands, because the more she knows about an activity and venue, the better she can evaluate opportunities.
Promote Achievements
Having upgraded her Skill Squirrel account to a Startup subscription for creating Service posts, Mallory created portfolios that further enhance her profiles. In her portfolios, she attaches PDFs of her school transcripts. She was a top student and made the dean’s list each semester, which is an accomplishment she’s proud of and happy to promote.
Attach Credentials
When Mallory earns industry related Verifiable Credentials, she attaches them to her profile, which also contains links to the microcredentials she earned during college. Having this verifiable proof of her capabilities has already helped her to secure lucrative freelancing contracts.
Networking
Mallory has created her own networking group on Skill Squirrel for alumni in her program. As the administrator of this private group, she set the membership criteria, and she controls who joins. The privacy offered by the group allows her schoolmates and those that went before them, to share advice and help each other on projects. Plus, interactions among members forms a great base for providing endorsements and recommendations that strengthen each other’s reputations.
Attracting Work
The reputation that Mallory has built on Skill Squirrel has helped her land interviews and secure freelance assignments. She now has the confidence and the connections to pursue her ideal job.
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