“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more…” Erica Jong
Last week I made a presentation to the Western NY chapter of the Product Development Management Association (PDMA) on how Social Media is radically changing the world of product development. I have been working on the ideas for this presentation and getting to know people in the group for nearly a year. When the time came for me to make this presentation, I believed I had something valuable to share.
But some little part of me thought, uh oh. What if they disagree? What if the material isn’t interesting? These are just my thoughts and ideas; maybe I’m wrong. In other words, I knew I was taking a risk and suddenly the reality of the risk hit home. A few minutes later, I pushed these thoughts from my mind, knew that I was well prepared and then hoped for the best. You’ll be glad to know that everything went well.
In my mind, if I’m not taking a fair number of risks in my professional life, then I’m not learning and growing. The important thing is to take calculated risks; ones that I know from experience, have a fairly high probability of turning out in my favor. Years ago I heard this quote and decided that I would embrace the philosophy…”The best way to cope with change is to create it.”
And here’s another very interesting way to look at it… “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevancy even less.” General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
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?
Ok, today we’re playing jeopardy. I’m giving you the question: What is Quora?
– A tool for improving dental hygiene?
– A movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor in WWII?
– An element of new math?
– A supplement guaranteed to help you lose 50 pounds in 3 weeks?
Give up? If I told you it was another social media tool and that it’s pretty cool, you would never have started reading. But I tricked you… (are you still reading?)
Quora is a “continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” Hmmm, sounds like Wikipedia. Here are some ‘questions” that I’ve opted to follow:
If you have a curious mind, you may enjoy Quora. Oh by the way, here’s advice on using Quora for your job search. Now go start laughing, learning and collaborating!
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!
Wow, I knew a lot of things were moving to the mobile space but job hunting? Check out this image of mobile screens from Starbucks. Yes, attention folks; phones are for a lot more than games and email. Before you dismiss this as “not for jobs like the one I’m looking for’”, please check out this article from Mashable.com.
Nielsen Research indicates that nearly half of American adults will have ‘smart phones” by the end of 2011. Mobile payment structures, comparison shopping, geolocation, interest driven profiles, group buying and so much more are evidence that this (r)evolution is coming on strong.
Are you prepared? Do you understand what mobile is going to do to your business? Let me know what you think about mobile.
I regularly talk to groups about social media and there are still a surprising number of people who insist that Twitter is stupid. They know nothing about it, they’ve never used it, but they are certain it’s useless. They are like this dog. Asleep.
As I go through my talk, inevitably the most vocal opponent (the one who kept telling me how insightful they are and how stupid I am) sees the light and suddenly wants my help. Hmmm…
Why are there so many jobs posted on Twitter?
– It’s free, fast, easy, has an incredibly broad reach AND all those people who think social media is stupid won’t be looking there!
Back to the job hunt. Of those 500 job posts per minute, there are, of course, redundant jobs BUT… the question is… how can you use what’s there to help you?
Using Hashtags to Boost Your Job Search is a terrific article on how to use Twitter effectively (Hashtag =# = keywords). Hashtags such as #jobs, #jobadvice, #jobhunt and #jobsearch offer both job openings and general job search advice. If you’re looking for high-level information to help your job search, start here.
Put the hashtag in the twitter search bar and up will pop articles (links) that may help you. Geographic hashtag can narrow your search, #roc = Rochester, NY. Also, there are hundreds of recruiters on twitter, Check out this resource. Follow the smart people on Twitter and you might be surprised how much you’ll learn. Got Twitter job search tips? Please share.
I have a friend who talks about the power of two. One person can make a huge difference in the lives of many people. However, 2 people, joined in purpose and intent, can move mountains.
I believe that the way that we work, play and innovate is undergoing a revolution and social media/web 2.0 are at the heart of it. Beyond Facebook, Twitter and Linked In are wikis, online communities, videos, ning groups, meet ups, blogs, podcasts and so many more cool ways to communicate that we have barely begun to scratch the surface.
Back in the mid-1990′s, we used altavista to search for information on the then new “world wide web.” Remember? If we had to use a search tool like that today, we would be tearing our hair out. The tools we have for collaboration are similarly unsophisticated compared to what we’ll have at our fingertips in just a few short years. The ways we want to work together are already evolving faster than the toolkit.
I have started a new blog, A Collaboration Nation to share ideas and get us thinking not only about tools for sharing ideas, but also how we work together. I came across a book called “The Power of Two” and from it, I took this excerpt;
Effective allies agree with these 3 statements:
We focus on each other’s strengths, not weaknesses.
We accept each other as we are and don’t try to change each other.
We are understanding of each other when one of us makes mistakes.
In those cases where you work with one other person, how effective are you as a partner? When we focus on the power we have to make great things happen, guess what; great things happen.
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 teach social media for job hunters several times a month and meet lots of great people. When I talk about twitter, I often hear, “Twitter’s stupid.” If you don’t need a job and think twitter is stupid you can stop reading right now.
If you have an open mind, you might be very surprised at the number and types of jobs available on twitter. I was talking to a recruiter recently and she said that when she gets a new professional position, the FIRST place she posts it is twitter. Why? Because it’s easy, it’s free and she knows that only people who ‘get’ social media will be looking there. Only people with updated skills know to look on twitter.
Remember, you don’t have to have twitter followers or follow anyone to search the powerful real time network. Go to twitter, find the search box and input any of the following:
I like Linked In. I think it has done a lot of things right and I appreciate all the forward thinking people who have created this terrific tool.
Everything in social media is changing all the time and while it makes it challenging for us to stay on top of those changes, it’s logical because there are financial, technological and practical reasons for the constant upheaval.
I am surprised by job seekers who know little about how the power of Linked In can help them in their job search. It continues to be the #1 tool I recommend for people looking to build their network contacts and find work. There are so many ways to use it to attract recruiters and hiring managers; particularly now that the job market is picking up. For more tips on using Linked In, check out this article, Ten Tips for Getting the Most Out of Linked In.
There are a few negatives in using Linked In that in no way outweigh the benefits. However, in recent months, these issues have become more problematic and if you are just starting with Linked In, you may benefit from understanding these things.
Large groups can be full of spam now. Don’t let this discourage you from using groups. They are a fantastic way to meet people. You may have to work a little harder to find groups that are just professionals talking to one another.
I’ve noticed that some people are sending out unsolicited emails about events or their groups. When I replied to one person that it was spam, they started arguing with me. I said, “if it comes to my in box and I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it it’s spam.” Period.
I’ve noticed that when I look at the connections for one of my contacts, they are no longer in alphabetical order. This isn’t a big deal but…
Asking and answering questions, uploading presentations, looking for jobs and searching for contacts at key companies are all incredibly useful parts of Linked In.
Here’s my funny Linked In story. I was giving a talk at an entrepreneurial conference on social media. The crowd was great. As I left the venue, a young man stopped me and said, “I’m sorry I missed your talk on social media. Can you tell me about Linked In?” I said, “Sure, it’s like an electronic Rolodex.” He looked at me blankly and said, “What’s a Rolodex?”
“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more…” Erica Jong
job search, Life Transitions | Deborah | 
April 27, 2011 8:59 am | 
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