It may be hard to believe but many Human Resource professionals are gearing up their recruiting efforts. While the economy isn’t exactly humming, the job market is heating up and companies are actively looking for ‘bench strength.’ In a 2010 survey titled, Job Seeker Nation, it was reported that we are rapidly becoming a nation of ‘free agents’ who are continuously alert for opportunities. And by the way, this is a good thing. Try this on for size…
I know keeping up our skills is hard and that trying to make sure we’re networking and connecting is a pain. But consider the alternative. “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less,” said General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army. He wasn’t referring to the job market but, it does apply.
Each of us needs to be thinking about being a proactive career manager. Are you diligently building your network? Are you getting training? Are you actively discussing key aspects of change in your field? Do you read blogs that are relevant to your industry? Are you out of your comfort zone?
I want to be one of those people that companies are willing to fight to recruit. How about you?
I talk to job seekers who think that job boards are useless. I tell them that for years I have had an automated job search running; whether I had a job or not. Why? Because:
- You never know when you might need a job OR help someone else find a job.
- You can learn a lot about a company from what they are posting and how they describe open positions.
- You might learn the name of a hiring manager or HR person who could help you with that company.
- If you see the same skills required for job postings; it could tell you that you need to update your skills.
So if you don’t have one, start an automated job search. I like Indeed.com as it aggregates jobs from other job boards. By the way, if you post your resume on job boards you open yourself up to all kinds of spammers. They troll job boards looking for contacts to sell ‘stuff’ to. Just be careful out there.
At Reputation.com you can pay the company to ‘manage’ your online reputation. Hmmm. This strikes me as very odd. Now I realize that there can be circumstances when a person may need to have some help in “fixing” things online. Everything from an old school photo to an errant rant might need to be managed.
But as a rule, the idea of paying someone to change, improve or alter your digital reputation or “digital footprint” sounds crazy to me.
I know a lot of people don’t like Google but the reality is that Google’s search algorithms (their own self interest notwithstanding) are designed to give real people who are creating real content the best chance possible of being found by other real people.
Before I came across this article, A Primer on Online Reputation Management, I didn’t even know these companies existed. While I appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit, I question whether this is a viable alternative for 99% of the population. Here is one of the tactics employed by such organizations; they “include things like “astroturfing,” or the creation of anonymous commenter accounts to buttress a positive piece of content or lash out against a negative one.” Another tactic is to “sneak a client’s name into a site with a lot of rank with Google, such as IMDB.com.”
The whole point of a reputation is that it be a true reflection of who you are. Trust is built by being consistent and ethical. What many of us love about ‘social’ networking/media/business/commerce is the transparency. You can manage your own online presence by paying attention, reading and commenting on blogs, posting to Linked In and so forth. For heaven’s sake be genuine because if you get exposed as a fraud– you WILL need to pay someone to help you get rid of that and good luck doing so!
Last week I gave two presentations at the New York State Society for Human Resources Management conference and I met people from all kinds of organizations, all of them hungry to understand how social media is affecting their business. It’s clear that these professionals, like most of us, have a love hate relationship with social media. We love how it connects us to old friends on Facebook and hate trying to keep up with all the new ‘stuff’ that comes out. It’s pretty overwhelming.
Our discussions at the conference went beyond Facebook and Twitter and included a broader set of tools like Yammer, Glassdoor.com, Wikis, video and so much more. Beyond the toolkit, there is the ever important compliance piece of this equation and we covered that as well. You can find the presentation here.
Wherever you work and in almost whatever department, you need to understand the fundamental shift that is occurring and why it is changing the way we work, collaborate, think, relate and engage with stakeholders. Before I went to the conference, I read a post by the former PunkrockHR blogger. She now blogs under the title of http://cynicalgirl.com. I loved this post about kicking HR to the curb. It’s all pretty much common sense but whether you are an HR professional, an employee or a job seeker, I hope you will take a minute to check out the funny way this information is pulled together. We love it, we hate it but we can’t ignore it.
I recently attended a local TEDx (Technology, Entertainment, Design) event. TED’s focus is stimulating thinking and innovation by bringing together speakers and an audience from as many divergent fields as possible. A perfect networking opportunity.
I showed up by myself. Why? Because while I am uncomfortable walking into this room full of hundreds of people alone; I know that if I am with a friend, I will miss opportunities to meet new people. As I pushed my way through the crowd, I saw a few people I know. I said hello but quickly moved on. I’m here to make new connections and I can’t do that talking to people I already know well.
The first person I met was from Rochester Institute of Technology. The demonstration is remote movement technology. Fascinating. In the auditorium, I sat down in an empty seat. I started talking and laughing with the guy next to me. It turned out he’s the vice president of human resources for one of Rochester’s largest employers.
A few minutes later, a young man plunked down in the seat on the other side of me. He’s a Taiwanese national who is studying industrial design at one of the local college. We shared ideas about design.
If you are looking for a job or trying to build your company, I suggest you attend events alone. Being a little uncomfortable is a good thing. It means you are stretching beyond your comfort zone. Are you meeting 5-10 new people a week? There are a lot of ways to do this; you need to make a real effort. What’s your favorite way or place to meet new people? Please share your thoughts.
*Song lyrics from George Thorogood and the Destroyers, I Drink Alone. My blog does not advocate drinking and certainly not drinking alone.
It may be hard to believe but many Human Resource professionals are gearing up their recruiting efforts. While the economy isn’t exactly humming, the job market is heating up and companies are actively looking for ‘bench strength.’ In a 2010 survey titled, Job Seeker Nation, it was reported that we are rapidly becoming a nation of ‘free agents’ who are continuously alert for opportunities. And by the way, this is a good thing. Try this on for size…
job search, Life Transitions | Deborah | 
April 22, 2011 10:21 am | 
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g lyrics from George Thorogood and the Destroyers, 
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