Posts
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Can you turn your tweets into a real career?
What stood out, however, was the "job opportunity" named at the top of the list, based on keyword search frequency: Twitter. Granted, everyone's favorite Internet trend was listed as a "micro-segment," so it can hardly be compared to something as established as, say, the legal profession. But I immediately wrinkled my brow thinking about how Twitter could be considered a job, in and of itself.
Now, I'm on the record for being not exactly thrilled about the 140-character medium. Far too much of the Twitscape has become an endless echo-chamber of re-tweets and pithy observations for it to hold my interest. Twitter is clearly a marketing force to be reckoned with, and all job-seekers would be wise to use it as much as possible to stay in touch with potential job leads, but calling it a profession (unless you're Ashton Kutcher) is a bit ludicrous.
I contacted Indeed.com to find out what they meant by adding Twitter to the top of their list. "As more and more businesses utilize Twitter, they will require employees who are familiar with or experts in the communication model," explained Hillary O'Keefe, a marketing associate with Indeed. One listing (now no longer on the site) sought someone to provide customer support responses via Twitter, she added.
Twitter isn't the only social media opportunity on the Indeed list. Other popular keywords include "Facebook" (#4), "Blogger" (#6) and, well, "Social Media" (#9). "In general, there is a trend with companies wanting to have greater branding through social networking and social media so the recent rise in job listings that include the keyword 'Twitter' is a reflection of that," O'Keefe said.
A more recent segment on ABC News by Tory Johnson touted the money-making potential of Twitter, using sites like SponsoredTweets.com. But after three months of being sponsored by advertisers with fees based on the numbers of followers, the best Johnson could show for her efforts was roughly $15 per tweet (far more than the average hosted per-tweet average of $1 or $2), which amounted to "more than $200." Hardly enough to pay the bills, I'd say.
So I put it to you, Hire Ground readers: Have you ever made serious money using Twitter? Or is merely a very good tool for broadening your network and spreading your brand? I invite you to share your experiences with me, either here, or, of course, on my Twitter account.
Writer and editor Randy Woods has filled out more job applications than he can count -- so you don't have to. Email him at hireground@nwjobs.com.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
How IBM Uses Social Media to Spur Employee Innovation
By Casey Hibbard
“Be yourself.” It’s one of the rules of social media. If you’re blogging, tweeting or Facebooking for business, be real—or you won’t be followed.
Yet, how do you pull off “authentic” while maintaining the company brand message?
It’s tough enough for a small business. What if you’re #2 on Business Week’s best global brands list, with nearly 400,000 employees across 170 countries?
At IBM, it’s about losing control.
“We don’t have a corporate blog or a corporate Twitter ID because we want the ‘IBMers’ in aggregate to be the corporate blog and the corporate Twitter ID,” says Adam Christensen, social media communications at IBM Corporation.
“We represent our brand online the way it always has been, which is employees first. Our brand is largely shaped by the interactions that they have with customers.”
Thousands of IBMers are the voice of the company. Such an approach might be surprising for #14 on the Fortune 500.
Organization: IBM
Social Media Stats:
- No IBM corporate blog or Twitter account
- 17,000 internal blogs
- 100,000 employees using internal blogs
- 53,000 members on SocialBlue (like Facebook for employees)
- A few thousand “IBMers” on Twitter
- Thousands of external bloggers,
- Almost 200,000 on LinkedIn
- As many as 500,000 participants in company crowd-sourcing “jams”
- 50,000 in alum networks on Facebook and LinkedIn
Results:
- Crowd-sourcing identified 10 best incubator businesses, which IBM funded with $100 million
- $100 billion in total revenue with a 44.1% gross profit margin in 2008
Edgy at 114
At 114 years old, IBM seems to be the Madonna of the corporate world, staying relevant from decade to decade. The first company to build a mainframe computer and help NASA land a man on the moon still holds more patents than any other U.S.-based technology company.
As it turns out, its decentralized social media approach is another milestone in the company’s history—driving unprecedented collaboration and innovation.
IBM lets employees talk—to each other and the public—without intervention. With a culture as diverse and distributed as IBM’s, getting employees to collaborate and share makes good business sense.
“We’re very much a knowledge-based company. It’s really the expertise of the employee that we’re hitting on,” Christensen says.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
20 Tips for Building Your Personal Brand on Twitter
Whether you are promoting your business or your credentials as a job seeker, here are 20 Tips for Building Your Brand on Twitter:
1. Don't Sell A Thing
This one is important. Using Twitter is about paying it forward not paying it backward to yourself. Don't get me wrong. I applaud every business owner out there that offers products and services of value, and makes a living doing so. You deserve to make money. You need to make money to support your family, create jobs, and contribute to your community.
Just don't use Twitter to insert a sales pitch every 8th tweet. Your intentions become quite transparent. Instead, use Twitter with the simple mindset of offering content of value, promoting (and connecting) other people, and showing gratitude.
In networking situations offline, the most appreciated and effective participants are those that serve as matchmakers at an event (even if they just met each person!). Use the same approach on Twitter.
A consistent approach of paying it forward will do more for your business than you can imagine.
2. Be Your Own Voice
Social media is about creating a personal connection with your colleagues, customers, and fans. People want the authentic you, not a hired intern to tweet for you. If you (or your CEO) do not have time to tweet, that’s fine. Just don’t pretend it’s you.
President Obama dropped a social media bombshell recently in China when he indicated he has never used Twitter (in spite of the fact that tweets from @barackobama were a key component of a very successful social media campaign leading up to the election). I think it’s ok to give the President a waiver on this one. For the rest of us, it's important to be your own voice on Twitter.
3. Use a Real Picture
Just like on LinkedIn, it’s hard to make a personal connection with a logo or someone's pet:
???
4. Don’t Be a Social Media Expert
Mashable recently reported that over 15,000 profiles are marked as social media experts. Based on current growth, there will be 30 million social media experts on Twitter by this time 2012. In other words, everyone is an expert at social media. There are indeed social media experts out there and their credentials are reinforced by their books, blogs, and businesses. Unless social media is your business, my recomendation is profile your niche (e.g. project management, career development) and demonstrate social media proficiency.
5. Produce Your Own Content
Starting your own blog is critical (and super easy) for any professional. Taking the time to research and write your own articles will do more for your personal brand and credentials than probably anything else. It takes work, but once you get into a weekly rhythm, it is a lot of fun.
My best advice for content: Make it quick to read and actionable.
6. Add the Retweet Button to Your Blog Post
You’ve seen the Retweet Button at the top of most blog posts:
The key is to embed the code for this button in your blog post that retweets your Twitter handle, not the generic @tweetmeme handle. It is the third option noted on this link.
7. Make Your Latest Article Your Profile Link
If you make your latest blog post your Twitter website link, new followers will immediately discover the value of your content. It also increases the probability of your most recent article getting re-tweeted by new followers.
8. Help Others
Search Twitter for questions people are asking, and if you are in a position to help, please do so. Don’t just look for questions in your field. I always remember (and recommend) good people who simply respond to questions I may have about movies, the start time of a game, or where to eat in a new city.
(Oh, and still waiting to see Avatar. Up In The Air was very good though.)
9. Ask Questions
Asking questions is a great way to engage new people every day. When someone responds professionally, do not forget to acknowledge the person publically with another tweet.
Nobody appreciates someone who floods their twitter feed with a new tweet every 30 seconds. You may be a very interesting person, but nobody likes the person either who walks into a party and does not let anyone get in a word edgewise.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Using Job Search Strategies for Dating
Approach Finding a Mate Like Looking for Work
A successful career or a happy marriage can be the keys to happiness in someone’s life. So, too, achieving either one can be accomplished through similar methods.
Use Face to Face and Online Networking
Online professional networking sites have become a powerful tool for business and for job hunting. Sites like LinkedIn help people connect with friends, colleagues, and friends of friends in order to make personal contacts and perhaps get a foot in the door at a company where a resume might otherwise have been lost in the crowd.
Similarly, social networking sites are becoming a source for romantic dates. People already know they have friends in common and share similar interests. Strangers interact virtually on sites like Facebook through posting comments to mutual friends. A gutsy next step would be to make one-on-one contact with someone in a friend’s network and perhaps eventually suggest a live meeting. A newly married couple was featured in People magazine in 2009 because they “met” online when one emailed the other just to say, “Hey, we have the same name!”
Write a Good “Cover Letter”
Cover letters to potential employers that are an obvious cut-and-paste job generally wind up in the circular file. It is obvious that they are part of a careless mass mailing with no regard for the particular job being filled, and Human Resources will see them as weak and lazy.
Likewise, introductory emails that make no reference to the reader’s personal profile will show that the sender has blanketed the masses with this email with no rhyme or reason. A good email will demonstrate that the writer has read the reader’s profile and has legitimate reasons for thinking they might be a good match.
Go on Informational Interviews and “Practice” Dates
Sometimes a job hunter is uncertain about a particular job or a company and may be ambivalent about going on the live interview. Rarely, however, is such an interview a waste of time. Perhaps through a live meeting the interviewee will make a favorable impression on the employer and learn about a more suitable opening that is becoming available in the upcoming weeks. Maybe the interviewer will ask a provocative question that solicits an answer that the interviewee had not anticipated, but at another interview for a better job should a similar question arise again then a good response will already have been thought through.
A single might be ambivalent about whether or not to go on a date with someone. Approaching such a date as “practice” can yield unexpected consequences. At worst it will take an hour or two out of someone’s life. At best, the date can turn out better than expected and lead to something more. Somewhere in between a platonic friendship could be made, or the daters can practice small talk, always a useful skill.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Why Employers Look For Candidates Who Have Failed
Later I learned that many savvy hiring managers often look to hire someone who has failed at a past job or project.
Ok, everybody out there that has hidden failures on their resume, raise your hand …
I was intrigued as I heard more and more hiring managers seek those who have failed at something, because it’s counter intuitive. And based on the number of people out there with their hands in the air, most candidates don’t realize just how valuable failure is.
- Failure demonstrates innovation: In order to innovate, you have to accept that your idea might fail.
- Failure demonstrates willingness to take risks: Employees who take intelligent risks create more value than employees who are don’t take risks. That doesn’t mean to go base jumping off your building with a parachute or take reckless business risks. Businesses that don’t take risks don’t grow, and they need employees to help them decide which risks make sense.
- It’s a huge learning experience: Failure means that you get to look back on it, and think “what could I have done to avoid this?”, “How could I have made this turn out better?” But you’ve learned on someone else’s payroll, and had a valuable learning experience on someone else’s budget.
- Read Reasons 4 -5 and the rest of the article
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Spouse’s Role In Your Job Search
When I lost my job I suffered a terrible loss, and had no idea I would be going through various stages of mourning. Neither did I know what my wife was going to go through.
We made it through. I can’t say we did a stellar job of it, but we had no idea what was going on, or what we should do. Since we are still together I can say we made it through okay. In this post I want to share some ideas of what a spouse’s (see PC footnote 1) role is in your job search.
I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot since we went to a new friend’s house for dinner last week. On the way to their house my wife asked “so… how much can I tell her? If she asks how much money we make now, what can I say?” My wife asked because she has a tendency to share… well, everything. I tend to be significantly more private. My response to her was “Honey, you can say whatever you want. Tonight, I trust you 
Even though it’s been 4 years since we lost our job, we’re still figuring out what happened to us and how we got through it, and framing it in such a way that we can help others through it. This dinner was something I wish we could do more often.
After dinner my wife was alone with my buddy’s wife and when I went up to make the “let’s go home” signs I noticed there had been tears. Lots of tears. It was a good reminder of how raw and in-the-moment this “I lost my job, am I am worthless” the feelings are.
This topic has been on my mind ever since. I wasn’t the spouse of the job loser (you feel like a loser, don’t you?), but I lived with one, and I’ve met many. So I’m kind of, almost qualified to write this list of suggestions. I hope it is helpful. I welcome any thoughts in the comments.
- Be supportive. What I really needed was support. Most of how I defined myself professionally, which helped me define who I was as a human being (I hear this is a male characteristic), disappeared overnight. I went from Jason-the-somebody to Jason-the-loser. I really needed support, even though I turned into a loser overnight. Many of the points below are how to be supportive, but this was Number One in my list of needs.
- Let him/her go and network. The job search is probably different than what you think it is. It was dramatically different than what I thought it was. I remember a guy who learned about the power of networking in a job search… he said his wife had a really hard time since he was out networking (lots of breakfasts and lunches), and not at home on the job boards and submitting resumes. Please, please know that the best use of time is not sitting at the computer all day… when your spouse goes out to network, be proud, and encouraging (and know that he/she is probably doing something out of his/her comfort zone… any extra encouragement will go a long way!)
- Be intimate. Hm, how to approach this topic. From my perspective, the job search is filled with enough rejection… let me encourage you to continue to be intimate even during the very difficult, emotional job search. Aside from what you are probably thinking, know that a backrub, a snuggle or holding hands goes a long ways. Let him/her know you are still there, and not rejecting or judging. You can make it through this, and continuing the sweet somethings of a relationship can be quite reassuring.
- Be clean around the house. You can’t let this go. There is a tendency to give honey-do lists, and have expectations that “since you are around more you can do more work around here.” I don’t totally disagree with that, but don’t take too much time away from a job search and want him/her to put it into the dishes, laundry or basement project. Both of you should continue to keep up the house and chores like you did before… and if something needs to change, communicate about it!