Social Networking for Grown-Ups » The Glass Hammer

By Elisabeth Grant (Washington, D.C.)

By now you’ve heard of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and social networking (interacting in these different online spaces). In fact you may be sick of hearing about it!

Perhaps you have Facebook account, and maybe you’re even on Twitter. While these sites can offer great ways to keep up with friends, share photos, and be part of an online community, social media also offers important business opportunities as well. While you have to be careful what you post online (”Don’t Get Dooced“), don’t pass up the chance to make connections, brand yourself, and use social media in a business savvy way.

Out of the Playground

Social media may have started out as a diversion for teenagers and college students. But, in recent years, as Diane Garnick, Investment Strategist at Invesco Ltd. (and noted social media practitioner) explained:

“Social media stopped being a Generation Y playground and became an important tool for discovering, cultivating and expanding business relationships. Bridge the gap between you and your competitors by expressing your best ideas in an electronic forum the entire world can see.”

Social networking isn’t just for “kids” any more. The White House is on Facebook. The Library of Congress is on Twitter. Social media has evolved into a space where serious conversations can take place, and important information can be released. It allows for new ways to communicate with the public, with clients, and with potential clients. The best feature of social media is that it’s opt-in. People become your fans or friends on Facebook and your followers on Twitter, because they’re interested in what you have to say. Therefore, your message is more effective when you send it out: it’s reaching an targeted and relevant audience.

Grow Your Personal Brand with Social Media

Mary Gillen, a business owner who wears many hats (including writer and web developer) maintains the blog Learn One Thing where she offers ideas on marketing, social media, blogging for business, and more. When asked about how social networking has helped her business, she explained, “in my experience, participating in social media has brought me better rankings in the major search engines, which then leads to business, because people can actually find me that way.”

She cautions that it’s both “important not to ignore this ’shift’” to social media, but equally as important not to jump in blindly. Instead, she says, “start simply, and build on your skills as you go.”

Social media allows your audience to find you in multiple ways. Stumbling across your Facebook wall or Twitter feed can lead people to more information on your web site. Your web site or blog (or the best case, a hybrid of both) is your “online business base,” says Gillen. Your base is “where you post and publish content that educates visitors about what you do. You can then use your social media accounts like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to drive traffic to the content on your site.” Tweet news of a promotion on Twitter with a link back to your web site. Post information about an upcoming event on Facebook and your “fans” immediately know.

The more social media options you use, the more opportunities you have to catch different people’s interest. Mary Gillen encourages you to “re-purpose and publish what you know as your ’story’ in different ways: videos, ebooks, blog posts, slideshows, Tweets, Facebook Fan Page postings, LinkedIn Answers etc. This gives folks the chance to understand that you know what you are talking about. This process then contributes to their decision to do business with you.”

Facebook and Twitter Tips

Need more some concrete tips to see how social media can help you promote your business and business self? Here are a few to get you started.

• Business Appropriate – On Facebook, keep personal content (photos, statuses, private information) hidden by tweaking settings and creating lists (like Work, Friends, and Limited). On Twitter, be consistent. Don’t tweet a link to a business article one day and a note about what your cat just did the other day. Set up separate Twitter accounts for business and personal uses.
• Email Signature – Include a link to your Facebook page and your @Twittername in your email signature, so that every email you send out alerts friends and colleagues of your presence in social media.
• Interaction – Make contact with other people on Facebook and Twitter. Intelligent and constructive comments can lead people back to your social media pages or web site. And retweeting shows that you’re listening to what others are saying and you’re involved in the Twitter community.

via theglasshammer.com

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Is LinkedIn More Than A Job Board? | I'm On LinkedIn - Now What???

Here’s a question I got from someone asking about the value of Monster in a job search:

(1) With LinkedIn’s new Company Follow feature, LI Recruiter/Premium Membership, LI Corporate Accounts and (2) of course the fact that most of its revenue comes from ads and job postings, (3) how is LinkedIn not a job board, beyond market positioning and product differentiation?

Wow, what a simple question that makes me think of complex responses!

FIRST POINT

LinkedIn’s features (and the new features that you mention, as well as the new job seeker upgrade level) are all great features for job seekers and those who are looking for job seekers.  However, if you aren’t a job seeker, or don’t want to find job seekers, LI can still provide immense value to you (as an entrepreneur, manager, etc.).  You can find people who can provide value as new customers, partners, investors, mentors, advisors, etc.  You can learn about your competition and your prospects… you can get market, company and industry intelligence (think: competitive intelligence).  You can connect with peers, strengthen individual relationships and strengthen your brand.

The magic of LinkedIn is that it can provide immense value to a professional whether you are in a job search or not.

It’s similar to the magic of a pixar movie, which is loved by children and adults alike (for different reasons – it’s simple and fun for kids but the messaging and communication and cleverness appeals to adults).

LinkedIn appeals to job seekers (and those in the job search space) as well as to those who are not in the job search.

SECOND POINT

You say that (of course) most of LinkedIn’s revenue comes from ads and job postings… I’m not sure if that is true… there are really very few job postings compared to a traditional job board, and I hope that those very few postings do not make up a significant portion of their revenues… if that is the case then LinkedIn doesn’t produce much revenues.  Perhaps that will grow, which is great, but I would guess that job postings represent a very small percentage of revenues.

I’ve always guessed that company and recruiter memberships make up the bulk of the revenue, or at least is one of the larger revenue streams for LI.  However, I’m sure the ads are good, considering the placement they get (horrible placement for the users, imho… it’s too busy).

So, I can’t really say with any authority if this is right, but my gut says this is a wrong assumption.

THIRD POINT

How is LinkedIn not a job board?  Most of my response is in the FIRST POINT, above.  I know lots of people think of LI as a place that unemployed people go but there are plenty of employed professionals on the site, actively using some of the features.

This goes back to the Pixar analogy, though… it’s really beautiful.  Since it is not designed to be a job board, or a tool solely for job seekers, but it attracts those in hiring capacities, it naturally attracts job seekers (who are told to network into their next opportunity).

So, I’d say it’s not a job board but it is a terrific tool for job seekers, because of the simple reason that it was not designed to be a tool for job seekers, but for professionals to network.

via imonlinkedinnowwhat.com

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5 Daily Goals that Will Dramatically Improve Your Job Search! | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

As a job search drags on, it’s often difficult to keep feeling like you’re being productive from day to day.

Daily planning and daily objectives will make your job search move forward at a better pace. You never know where your best leads will come from so you need to pursue all you can.

Here are five daily goals that will make sure your job search continues to keep gaining ground in that daily uphill battle…

 

1 – Start each day by charging your batteries! As I tell people often: “Maintaining a positive attitude is one of the most important, and most difficult things to do during a job search.” A positive, optimistic attitude is extremely attractive to potential employers, and helps you keep doing all the things you need to do in your search. However, a positive attitude is easily diminished by the 'hurry up and wait’ nature of the job search process, and the inevitable set-backs.

Zig Ziglar, the well-known motivational speaker and trainer says:
"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing - that's why we recommend daily."

First thing each morning read something that gets you in the right frame of mind and gets you excited about the prospects you have before you. Whether it’s scripture, a motivational book, encouraging poetry, an inspiring biography, or whatever else works for you. Do not fill your mind with things that discourage you or bring you down. Things like the news, or some dark novel, or anything else that damages your sense of optimism rather than boosts it. Charge your batteries each day to get off to a good start.

 

2 – Make 2 new networking contacts. If you make only two new contacts each day; 10 per week; 40 per month, you will quickly build your number of connections to a level that will ultimately lead you to your new job. Certainly you’d like to find new connections at companies you are pursuing. However, you never know who anyone knows! You may find your grandmother’s friends each have children in hiring roles in companies all around your area. Who does your grandma know? You may find connections at companies you are interested in but the connection is not in your field. They are very valuable contacts as well.

Your question to each contact you make shouldn’t be “Do you know of a job opening in my field?”, but rather “Who else do you know that would be worthwhile to talk to?” Your objective is to build a chain of referrals from one person, to the next, to the next until you reach the person that might have the right position for you. Your goal with each contact, is to get at least a couple of additional contacts… to build the next link in your chain. Once you’ve made connections, you can stay in touch with them monthly to continue to build relationships and gain more leads and ideas.

Get at least 2 new contacts each day, and you’ll always have people to call.

 

3 – Make some kind of connection at one of your target companies. If you haven’t a list already, you should create a list of 10 to 15 target companies. These are companies at which you would most like to find a role. Each day, determine that you will connect in some way to at least one of those companies.

That connection may be a follow up email to someone you know there. It may be a phone call to a new contact that you found through LinkedIn, Twitter, a networking meeting, or from one of your new networking contacts. It may be sending a Thank You to someone else you spoke to recently at that organization. It may be asking for another contact from someone you’ve spoken to at the company before. It may be sending a coffee mug with your resume to someone you’d like to meet with and asking if you might buy them a cup of coffee.

Be creative, be professional, be well prepared, be concise, but be “Pleasantly Persistent” and make at least one contact to a target company each day.

 

4 – Do something related to your field or industry. As your job search drags on, it is easy to begin feeling out of touch with what is happening in your field or industry. As you interview for a new position, and your resume indicates you’ve been unemployed for an extended period, it becomes an obvious question to the potential employer as well… “Is this person still current?”

If you can show on your resume, and describe in an interview how you’ve made extra efforts to remain ‘plugged-in’, it will go a long way to overcoming any questions they may have.

Find free industry, technical, trade, or User Group meetings, seminars, or presentations. Look into taking a class, reading a book, working on a certification, or creating a group yourself.

In addition to keeping yourself current, most of these venues are excellent opportunities to network with people targeted to your job search. Find something related to the jobs you are pursuing each day and get ‘plugged-in”.

 

5 – Learn and apply something new for an effective job search. This site and so many others online are tremendous resources for improving your approach in your search. There are books, magazines, job search presentations, webinars, and other avenues to gain ideas and applications to becoming a more effective job hunter.

Learn how to use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other sites as effectively as possible. Find other tools to help you find contacts, manage your activities, or make effective connections.

Just like most anything else in life, you improve in your results as you continue to learn, practice, and apply new ideas and skills. Learn something new for your job search each day.

 

If you set out to accomplish these 5 goals each day… your job search will definitely be more productive!

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Author:

Harry Urschel has over 20 years experience as a technology recruiter in Minnesota. He currently operates as e-Executives, writes a blog for Job Seekers called The Wise Job Search, and can be found on Twitter as @eExecutives.

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Seth's Blog: Mentoring, platforms and taking a leap

How much support does someone need (or get, or deserve, you pick) before they ship their art?

The fearful lizard brain demands reassurance and coaching and even a push before it is quiet enough to permit us to do the difficult work our economy demands, before it will allow us to create art that changes others.

So it's logical to wonder how to build systems that encourage legions of people to find that reassurance, and it's encouraging to imagine that we could build a school or a coaching program or other external forces that would create more artists.

And yet most mentors and coaches and teachers will tell you that few of their students ever do, not in comparison with their potential. A few break through and change everything, and we celebrate them, but what about everyone else?

The artists are different. They took a leap.

They weren't pushed. They jumped.

image by gomattolson

via sethgodin.typepad.com

 

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Avoid Falling Victim to Resume Self-Destruction | EmploymentDigest.net

After working for a staffing and recruiting agency for nearly 6 years, I’ve seen my share of poorly written, badly formatted, and self-destructing resumes. Many jobseekers have shot themselves in the foot for making simple and basic mistakes. As I’m sure you’ve heard and read time and time again, your resume is a marketing tool to promote yourself. It’s evident to hiring managers how much time and effort you’ve invested in this critical piece and the results speak for themselves. If you are an active and serious job seeker, you should check your resume today to avoid make damaging mistakes.

Self-promote, don’t self-serve. Your resume shouldn’t be about what you are looking for in your next job opportunity, but instead how your skills and background can fill a void at an organization. For example, don’t state in an objective that you are looking to utilize your education and experience to grow within a company. This is a very self-serving statement and doesn’t provide the hiring manager with insight as to why they should hire you. Check your email address. Your email address says a lot about you. Some addresses reveal more then what a hiring manager would ever want to know. I’m sure you want your friends and family to know you as hotmama166, but do you want your future employer to know you that way. Create a new email address specifically for your job search. When doing so, keep it simple and professional. Don’t undersell yourself. Spend time thinking of all the tasks and responsibilities you had at your previous jobs. It may be something you only did monthly, but that experience could be relevant to a prospective employer. Use action words. You can make any sentence pop by adding a power or action word. For example you could state that you file documents or you could state you accurately and systematically file confidential information. Don’t include pictures or personal information. A guaranteed way to get your resume tossed aside is if you include a picture with your resume. Even if your picture is professional, which the majority of the ones I see are not, it shows a lack of judgment on the job seekers behalf. Leave the pictures for your online profiles. Also, do not include anywhere in your document your personal interests. Knowing that you like to fish with your family has no relevance on your professional future and may even cause an employer to negatively judge you. Quantify your successes. Nothing stands out more than numbers. For instance, which candidate would you choose; someone who states they have customer service experience or someone with over 12 years of progressive growth in customer service? If possible, try to back up your success with numbers. Here’s another example; by researching and selecting a different paper vendor I saved the company $450 per month. Make sure to spend some time upgrading your resume. With the job market as competitive as it is, those who spend the time will be the ones who get results.

 Katie Lindbloom is the Marketing Manager at QPS Employment Group and manages QPS’ Resume Writing Services. To have your resume written by a professional, visit our Resume Writing Services webpage. QPS is a staffing and recruiting company with over 20 offices throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. QPS has been placing great people at great companies since 1985. Visit the QPS website at http://www.qpsemployment.com to find a branch near you.

via employmentdigest.net

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5 Good Personal Branding Habits For Bloggers | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

The best habits lead to effective results while becoming second nature so that you don’t even notice yourself doing them. Here are 5 worth making part of your blogging routine.

A word of warning

By taking on new habits, you build expectations of what you can do. Although you should try out all of these suggestions, once you understand the effort each habit involves, ask yourself if you’ll be able to sustain that effort. If you can’t, just don’t make that suggestion a regular habit, instead keeping it in mind for exceptional occasions.

1) Watch trends

Make it a regular part of your routine to follow the trends in your industry. Staying current is to stay relevant. This can be as quick as a daily glance at the last 100 tweets of a (your?) Twitter List of industry leaders and news sources or a monthly check of Google Trends.

2) Watch your trends

Track all your brand-building activities, because this is the only way to know which tactics are working and which aren’t. Tracking is a long-term activity but you should make it a regular habit to glance at your statistics packages and get an idea of progress or lack thereof.

If you’re considering a new tactic, always ask yourself how you’ll measure its results. If you can’t see a way, ask for help or consider a different tactic instead.

3) Do a nice thing for someone every day

Make it a point of doing at least one thing daily that a specific person will really appreciate. It can be as small as answering a question or sincerely complimenting on a job well done. Even better- do something that a specific group of people will really appreciate. Best- do something that a specific group of people will really appreciate where each of them feels as if it was done just for them, and do it in a public way so that other people will want to be included in that group next time.

If you’re a blogger, one example would be a blog post that responds to a common query of readers, with a section that addresses – by name – specific readers’ individual twists. You would only know which queries are common if you’re watching your trends to begin with. To take into account the earlier habits- that common query might be about a new trend, or something that’s about to become a new trend.

4) React quickly

One of the easiest ways to impress anyone is with speed. People are busy, and by responding quickly to them, they appreciate both your effort to get their request done but done in a way that makes their own responses easier due to the extra unanticipated time you’ve given them.

Continuing with our above example, be first or among the first to address a common query of your readers, because it’s likely to be a common query of your non-readers – potential readers to-be – as well.

Another typical example is email. While it is tempting to keep your email open all the time so that you can immediately react to new messages, that practice can easily harm productivity if you receive messages regularly. Experiment until you find a good compromise, such as checking your email once every 1-2 hours but only responding when a one-line reply is enough, while delaying other responses until after lunch or before the end of your day.

5) Daily blog comment

Make it a point of commenting on at least one blog article per day. Vary your blog selection to cover blogs of industry colleagues, friends, fans, people you admire, even competitors. While comments on big blogs are more likely to be seen, comments on small blogs are more likely to be appreciated, so aim for a balance of both. It’s critical that your comment be constructive and valuable, and not an airy ‘great post!’ that adds nothing while making you look silly or spammer-like.

Bloggers love good comments, making them another example of something nice you can do daily. Commenting soon after a trend-related article was published – a momentum-maker that will endear you even more to the blogger – is a great way to apply all the suggestions mentioned here so far.

Author:

Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.

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The Best College Grad Job Search Resources – Vol 2 » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.” – Anonymous

There are few of us who enter college knowing what we want to be when we grow up, and many of us change our major one or more times. So what does that mean about finding your first job out of school? Well for one, don’t stress out looking for the right answer (or the elevator to success) because there isn’t always a right answer. The trick is to find a job that closely aligns to your skill set with a company that offers the best chance for achieving your career goals.

Sounds easy, but in practice it takes a lot of work. Take the stairs, it will take you longer to get there but the rewards are worth the pain.

College Grad / Entry Level Job Search Sites:

• Alumwire.com - “Real Connections” is the tag line for this professional network which focuses on “job search, recruiting, career enhancement, and other business pursuits” according to their website. The main page is all about jobs. There is a link for the Alumwire Virtual Career Fair Schedule followed by featured jobs (with a link to see additional jobs), an overview on networking below which is a link where you can update your resume and set-up your profile. View Jobs by Category is on the right hand side of the page. This is definitely a site worth checking out.

• 37signals Job Board – A job board by 37signals.com, the page offers lists of jobs, sorted by job category (Design Jobs, Programming Jobs, and several other categories). Click on any job opportunity to see a job description along with contact information. There is a “live search” box at the top of the page as well. You can click on the category to see all the jobs for that category and you can subscribe via RSS as well.

• Work for Students – By, of course, workforstudents.com. This is a good place to look if you are looking for work while in college. Remember, what you doing during school (and I don’t mean just your school work) is sometimes more important than what you did in school (not an excuse to get a C). Links at the top of the page for Opportunities, Resources and Apply. There are links for latest news and Career Resources center page. Enter your zip code (top right hand side of the screen) and click Go.

College Grad Job Search Advice:

• 2009 Best Companies for Diverse Graduates – Thanks to Diversity Edge (thediversityedge.com) for this listing of the best companies for diverse graduates. The article has a brief overview followed by a listing of the companies. You will recognize most (if not all) of the 20 companies on this list. At the bottom of the article is a link to the website.

• Job Hunting Tips for the New College Graduate – Or Anyone – Good article (from Generation X Finance) which has some good advice, covering topics such as Experience Matters, Start Early, Networking and more. This article is definitely worth a read. There are related articles at the bottom of the page.

Company Career Sites for College – Check out these links:

• Northrop Grumman

• KPMG LLP

• Target Corporation

• Turner Construction

Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

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