Becoming a social media maven not that difficult

Katy Piotrowski, M.Ed.

Eating lunch outside in Old Town recently, a man I didn't know approached my table. "You're the social media queen!" he said. I looked behind me, convinced he was talking to someone else. Social Media Queen isn't a label I'd attach to myself.

My confused look prompted him to explain. Turns out he's the business partner of a woman I know, and he and I had connected through her on LinkedIn (an online business networking site). Then I remembered that recently, I have been more consistent in posting updates on my LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Suddenly, a wave of joy swept over me. If this little bit of extra effort was building my reputation as an active social media maven, hooray!

People in my life would tell you that when it comes to jumping on technology advancement bandwagons, I'm usually hiding under them. But as much as I resisted the idea of social media, eventually I admitted that it offers some pretty cool pluses: direct connections to supporters and an effective, efficient way to differentiate myself.

So rather than fight it further, I've made social media part of my routine. Each Monday, I pick a theme, usually some universal topic such as passion, fear or courage. Then I study my calendar for the week, looking for ways to tie that theme into 140-character statements (the maximum length on Twitter) related to my activities.

For instance, this past week's theme was fishing (in honor of summer), and one day's post was, "True story: One job hunter sent a resume and intro letter to 20 co's that she liked, but who weren't advertising jobs. She landed a job offer!"

Once I've composed my five statements for the week (I reuse the same posts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter), I schedule their delivery using a tool like Hootsuite.com. The entire process takes less than 30 minutes, yet voila! My messages are posted Monday through Friday, and people confuse me with being a social media guru.

Turns out it isn't painful and doesn't take much effort. So I still have plenty of time to enjoy lunch outside in Old Town.

Katy Piotrowski, M.Ed., is the author of "The Career Coward's Guides", and provides career and job search support with Career Solutions Group in Fort Collins. She can be reached at 224-4042, or send email to katy@careersolutionsgroup.net.


Original Article

Six Tips For Recruiters Surfing Job Board Aggregators

“Where should I post my job opening?”

I hear this question weekly from HR colleagues and clients.  Assuming the people asking this question are specifically targeting active candidates (pursuing the estimated 80% of talent who aren’t actively checking out new positions on job boards is a completely different type of discussion which I’m happy to have), I often direct them to a job board aggregator (sometimes referred to as vertical job search engines) to help them conduct a bit of research to answer their question.


My favorite job board aggregators for years have been Simplyhired.com and Indeed.com.  Recently, I discovered a new favorite, Linkup.com, thanks to a blog postby Laurie Ruettimann on Punk Rock HRbefore she signed off on that forum.  For a list of other job aggregators, including European and Asian sources, take a look at Eric Shannon’s post on the topic. 


Job aggregators are terrific tools to drive visibility for your job postings but did you know that they can also deliver HR and recruiting value in other, unexpected ways?  It’s sort of like what happened when surfers turned their long boards into stand up paddle (a.k.a. SUP) rides.  They took their tried and true tools to the another level.  Think beyond just posting jobs on these sites and you’ll be surprised by a new sourcing experience.
To me, the biggest difference between SimplyHired, Indeed, and Linkup are the sources for their job posting search results.  The first two cull postings from company career sites and other job boards while Linkup purely searches and reports from company career sites.
As you’d expect, most people using these aggregators are job seekers conducting job searches and setting up posting alerts.  As a recruiter, I like to tap into these sources regularly for different purposes.  Here are six tips to introduce recruiters, HR, and business leaders to the benefits that job board aggregators bring to the recruiting table…beyond just posting jobs to these sites. 


1)  Identify your talent competitors.  Say you are recruiting for a Microbiology Medical Technologist in Denver and you want to know who else is hiring for that type of position and has posted those jobs in the last 15 days.  Yesterday I typed those parameters into Indeed.com, and found five other labs in Denver hiring Microbiologist lab techs.  So, now you know against whom you are competing for talent and where you can presumably find employed diagnostic microbiology passive candidates. 


2)  Benchmark job descriptions.  It’s common for HR professionals to compare and contrast job descriptions when developing new positions or calibrating pay considerations for external market equity.  Aggregators are a great research source to find benchmark job descriptions by industry, credentials, or company size.  Simply search for comparable jobs posted to aggregators by your competitors or industry leaders.  Extract the descriptions that match your needs.  By sharing your research when requesting job description samples from colleagues, you’ll develop a reputation as someone who shares value when networking.


3)  Gather competitive intelligence.  Say you want to know to whom (e.g., CFO, Controller, VP Tax, etc.) the Tax Managers report at your competitors which have between $100 – $500m in revenue.  Go to SimplyHired.com’s advanced search function, type in “Tax Manager” in the [within job title] box, type in “reports to” or “reporting to” in the [with the exact phrase box], and use the revenue parameters in the [company revenue] special filter.  When I ran this search today, 119 results returned. 

Tips 4 - 6 And Original Talent Terrace Posting

21 Things Hiring Managers Wish You Knew

We actually want you to be honest.

I see too many job applicants who approach the interview as if their only goal is to win a job offer, losing sight of the fact that this can land them in the wrong job. Think of it like dating. This means being honest about your strengths and weaknesses and giving the hiring manager a glimpse of the real you, so he or she can make an informed decision about how well you’d do in the job.


Things 2 -21


Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search, and management issues. She's also the author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader's Guide to Getting Results.

10 Tips For Aspiring Community Managers

As the world of dominant brands becomes more fragmented, established companies and startups are hiring community managers to cultivate an engaged community in a digital world where customers’ experiences with the product is amplified through social media, whether good or bad. And it’s not just the experience that users value; the relationships and connections they are able to make with companies and fellow consumers are just as important.
As a result, engaging users online and off has become evermore important for both companies big and small. That’s because social media has revolutionized the idea of word-of-mouth marketing, providing not only an opportunity for companies to expand their brands but also creating the risk of a customer service nightmare.
Community managers, who come in all shapes and sizes depending on the company and its mission, are often the online face of their companies, and more increasingly, offline as well. They’re the social strategist, community builder, storyteller, marketer, product manager, designer and evangelist rolled all into one. But most importantly, they’re responsible in projects and initiatives that strengthen the community of consumers, users and customers of the company.
Though there’s no silver bullet to being a successful community manager, for those aspiring to become one, we’ve gathered some tips from community builders on what it takes to land a job and be effective at cultivating community.

1. Be an Expert and Evangelist of Your Product or Company

Effective community managers are not only experts of the company or product they represent, but also are passionate about it. Chrysanthe Tenentes, Head of Community at Foursquare (
), said good community managers are ones that are genuine advocates and evangelists for their products and their users.
“The best community managers are superusers of their products and can understand the passion of the user base, whether someone is complaining or offering feedback,” Tenentes said.
This means doing your homework on the company and product. It’s important to research the relevant aspects of the company with a “fine tooth comb mentality,” said Seamus Condron, Community Manager at ReadWriteWeb. This will not only prepare you as you go into an interview for a community spot at a company. Aspiring community managers should do a thorough “social media audit” of the company they’re interviewing with, said Daniel Honigman, Social Media Manager at Sears/KMart Home Electronics. This also means knowing the competitive landscape.

2. Love The Product and Company, But Be the Users’ Advocate

Understanding the product will help you become better at engaging and understanding the customers and users as well. Mario Sundar, Senior Social Media Manager at LinkedIn (
), said you should love the product or company you represent, but you should also have an understanding of users’ pain points. He said a community manager should be empathetic, that will help them be better at responding to complaints (and, at times, rants).
This is particularly true of customer service teams, and companies like Zappos, he said, have set the bar high in building customer support by empathizing with consumers. “A community manager’s role is no different,” he said.

3. Work on Your Communication Skills

One of the characteristics a community manager should have is that of an engager. A good community manager can engage people in an effective dialogue, said Andres Glusman, Vice President of Strategy & Community at Meetup.com. They understand that their role is to help people and enable their community to connect with each other, he said. To do this, they have to be effective communicators and articulate themselves well.
To prepare yourself for a career as a community manager, having a background in either marketing or journalism helps, Tenentes said. Having a communications background and experience in writing will help you be an effective communicator.

Tips 4 - 10

Your LinkedIn Profile Is Done. Now What?

As Jason and I spend time coaching clients and prospects on LinkedIn, the first thing we do is educate them on the steps involved in creating a complete profile.
We often refer to this (and all social media infrastructure setup) as “the plumbing” because it’s a necessary step before you can effectively use any social media tool.
So once your LinkedIn profile is complete, what are some of the things you should do next?
Here are  7 LinkedIn Quick Tips to get you headed in the right direction…

LinkedIn Quick Tips

1. MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Ideally, you will spend some time on LinkedIn every week. A good way to remind yourself to do that is by setting up a recurring, weekly calendar appointment for a minimum of 15-30 minutes dedicated to LinkedIn. In fact, cut and paste these LinkedIn Quick Tips right into your calendar entry to remind you what you need to do each week!
2. CONNECT TO PEOPLE: Start connecting to people that you know, trust and respect. There are a few ways to do this and you can see them all by clicking “Contacts” at the top of the page and then  “Add Connections”. And when you send an invitation to someone, be sure to personalize it!
3. RECOMMENDATIONS: Provide recommendations to those “rock stars” you’ve worked with over the years. Be authentic in your recommendations and write them in a way that lets people know why the person is great to work with. For examples of recommendations, take a look at some that Jason and I have written and received on our LinkedIn profiles. (Note: You must be logged into your LinkedIn account to view these.) Mic’s LinkedIn Profile; Jason’s LinkedIn Profile 
4. SEE WHAT YOUR NETWORK IS UP TO: If you click on “Home” at the top of the page when logged into your LinkedIn account, you will see a list of updates from people in your network and groups that you belong to. See what they are saying…see who they are connecting to….see what updates they are making to their profile. You never know what opportunities might come up. If you aren’t paying attention to what people are doing, you’ll miss those opportunities!
5. JOIN, AND PARTICIPATE IN, GROUPS: If you click on “Groups” at the top of the page when logged into LinkedIn, and then click on “Groups Directory”, you will see that there are tons of groups that you can join and participate in. Do searches for groups in your industry or groups that interest you (I am a part of several Jayhawk/KU groups..shocking, I know!) This is another great way for you to connect with like-minded people and share your opinions and expertise.
6. TAKE A LOOK AT WHO’S HIRING: Many people don’t realize that there are jobs posted on LinkedIn. Click on “Jobs” at the top of the page when logged into LinkedIn and take a peek at who’s hiring. That might give you some insight into companies that are growing…or you might know someone that you can refer to a company. Again, if you don’t make a habit of looking, you miss out on those opportunities.
7. FOLLOW COMPANIES THAT ARE CLIENTS OR THAT INTEREST YOU: Using the search box in the upper right hand corner of LinkedIn, search for companies that are your clients, that you are interested in, that you used to work for, etc. Once you’ve found them, you can choose “Follow Company” on their LinkedIn Company Profile Page. For an example, and to follow Blue Gurus, click here:

Those are just a few helpful tips to get you in the habit of proactively using LinkedIn each week.
Have you put these tips into practice? What have you learned? Do you have other tips that have been helpful to you or your business?

Original Blue Gurus Posting

Take the Back to School LinkedIn Challenge

By: Claudine Meilink



Today I challenged 20 of my LinkedIn contacts – all students – to take the Back to School Linked In Challenge. Why? Because they had initially created a LinkedIn profile to expand their network and, while their initial intentions were good, they had made the grave error of forgetting about that half-finished LinkedIn profile and allowed it to become a poor representation of who they are.
In the virtual world of the internet, it is almost better to have no presence rather than a negative presence. A half-finished or poorly done LinkedIn profile equals a negative presence. As more and more recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates to fill positions, you will want to ensure you are representing yourself positively online.
Is your LinkedIn profile at least 85% complete? If not, take my Back to School LinkedIn Challenge now so you are ready for fall recruitment when employers arrive on campus in September.

Phase I (Week 1)

1. Upload a photo if you haven’t already. Your photo should be a headshot and not include half of someone else’s head chopped off, bar signs in the back ground, or a straw in your mouth.
2. Complete the “Education” section with your major/minor, GPA, student organizations, extracurricular activities, academic accolades, and other school-related accomplishments. This is your chance to present information that wouldn’t typically fit on your resume. Don’t forget study abroad experiences, independent studies,
3. Update your “Experience” to include all relevant work experiences such as internships, as well as past positions that demonstrated your transferable skills, volunteer experiences, and internships for academic credit. This is your opportunity to present your resume on steroids. Take it.
4. Link to your twitter page, your website, or your blog but only if it is a professional representation of yourself. If you use twitter to communicate with your friends about how hungover you are on Sunday morning or swear like a sailor, skip the link to twitter. However, if you use twitter to network like a pro and find resources in your field of study, show your stuff!
5. Last, but not least, write a meaningful summary that adequately describes your skills and abilities, your strengths and accomplishments, and future goals. Your summary should give an employer an idea of why they would want to hire you. This is your time to shine!

Congratulations! You’ve passed the first step of the Back-to-School Linked In Challenge. Feel free to connect with me on Linked In if you would like to officially enter my contest. Prizes will be awarded. Don’t forget to personalize your invitation by telling me why you would like to connect.
Phase II will be posted next Friday, August 6th, 2010.

Author

Claudine is a Career Services Consultant for the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO) at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Among other things, Claudine provides career and major counseling to students and alumni, assists employers with achieving their recruitment goals at Purdue, and dabbles in the use of social media to engage students. You can connect with Claudine on twitter or LinkedIn.
Related posts:

1. The Back to School LinkedIn Challenge (Phase II)
2. The Back to School LinkedIn Challenge Phase III
3. Weekend Challenge: Beef Up Your LinkedIn Profile

Original Student Branding Blog Post

5 Ways to be Found With Your Linkedin Profile

Your LinkedIn Profile is your presence on LinkedIn. You can’t do anything in LinkedIn until your Profile is up. It’s like your resume and your own personal Web page in addition to the web sites you may have.
People do searches in LinkedIn when they’re looking for products and services, for top talent to fill positions, for jobs, and for answers to questions they have. You’ll look for these same things when you search LinkedIn. And search engines search your Profile when it’s completed.
When someone looks at your Profile, they’ll decide whether to connect with you, hire you as an employee or for your services based on what they see there. Make it a good first impression, and make it compelling so that they contact you.
Here are some tips for creating your Profile so that you’re found on LinkedIn, and your Profile shows them that you’re the best person to connect with.
1. Before you go to LinkedIn to create your Profile, think about your Big Picture Vision of your career and life. Write down the answers to these key questions: 1) What is your expertise and what are you known for? 2) What do you want people to ask you for now? What do you want to be known as the Expert in? 3) When people think of Tiger Woods, they immediately think of “golf”. What do you want them to think of when they think of you?
2. Have your resume handy as you write your LinkedIn Profile. You want to be complete, especially about your responsibilities and results you’ve achieved. Be sure your resume is results-oriented, and update it to include your current position and work.
A big mistake people make with their LinkedIn Profile is making it exactly like their resume – backwards-oriented. That is, only showing what you’ve done in the past. With your LinkedIn Profile, be sure it also reflects what you’re doing now and what you want to do. For example, if you’re a start-up business looking for funding or investors, be sure everything that a potential investor looks for in a company is in your Profile. It’s the same if you’re looking for a new position. There are people in LinkedIn who can help you with anything you want to do.
3. Think of keywords that people might search on to find you. For example, if you’re looking for a job, some relevant key words might be: 1) Your current job title and the title of the position you’re looking for. For example, if you’re now a Director and you’re looking for a Vice President position. 2) Your functional responsibilities. This describes what you do and is more descriptive than your job title. When I sold an accurate database of executives that companies used for their marketing, the database could be searched by “Job Function” as well as title. For example, the job title was Vice President, and Job Functions were Financial, Sales, Marketing and Human Resources. 3) Or if you want to find more clients, some keywords you’d use to find the person you’re looking for would be their current job title or industry, or the services they’d be searching for such as “sales training”.
4. Be sure the photo you put up on LinkedIn is a good one, and shows you as the executive and professional that you are. If you don’t have a photo that’s a good representation of you as you are now, it’s worth to get a new one. Remember, your Profile is the first impression people will get of who you are. When you’re networking online, the face-to-face visual clues are not there, so your photo is even more important.
5. Add your personality to your LinkedIn Profile. When someone sees your LinkedIn Profile, make it stand out so you stand out from the crowd. Make your Profile a representation of you – not simply an electronic resume. Rather than simply listing your job responsibilities and short descriptions, describe in story form how you solved challenges and approached the corporate or client situation. Create a picture in the reader’s mind that shows who you are, how you approach situations, how you stand out from others who do similar things, and that you’re accessible and personable.

Original BizBuzz Weekly Article