Posts Tagged: Social Media
How to Use Social Networking for Career Success: An Interview with Miriam Salpeter
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources on May 5, 2011 at 4:00 pm
By Lindsey Pollak
In recent years, social media has transformed from a convenient way for college friends to stay in touch to an essential tool for professional networking and personal branding. In her new book, Social Networking for Career Success: Using Online Tools to Create a Personal Brand, career expert Miriam Salpeter shares the ins and outs of social networking.
Miriam was kind enough to answer some of my questions about how young professionals can maximize their professional use of social media.
LP: What does social networking have to do with career success?
MS: In a competitive market, success seekers need to do what they can to differentiate themselves and highlight their value propositions. Social networking is an amazing tool to do just that. Here are two major reasons why: 1) social media offers users a chance to share their expertise and 2) using these tools can connect them to people they would probably never otherwise know; those people may be exactly the ones to introduce careerists to a targeted contact.
LP: How can people use social media to illustrate their expertise?
MS: All of the networks I highlight in the book, especially LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogging, make it easy to let your network know what you do and how you solve problems. Sharing expertise can be as easy as sharing a link to a relevant article along with a smart comment on Facebook or Twitter. It’s as simple as answering a question via LinkedIn with insight and expert information. Don’t underestimate the potential these connections may offer.
LP: What’s the best social network for job seekers?
MS: The first place job seekers should spend time is on LinkedIn. It is the go-to hub of professional networking and continues to expand the ways it allows job seekers to connect and extend their networks, especially via the Answers section and by using Groups.
That said, my favorite network is Twitter, because it is so open, and allows users to find, follow and interact with people they otherwise would never know. Once users find a community of people in their field to follow and communicate with, Twitter can provide a constant stream of information, professional development opportunities (right on your desktop), information about specific jobs and the chance to connect directly with colleagues, mentors and prospective bosses.
LP: Most young professionals are primarily active on Facebook. Can that site be used in a professional way? If so, how?
I admit, I hesitated at first to suggest using Facebook for professional reasons. However, when you think of the sheer number of people using Facebook (so many more than any other network), and the fact that 27% of firms locate hires via personal referrals from employees, it makes sense to “be where they are” and consider how to harness Facebook’s power for job hunting.
I advise readers to do a careful audit of their Facebook profiles and to remove anything a potential employer may consider objectionable. This includes photos inappropriate for professional environments, “trash-talking” comments, excessive negative comments (no one wants to hire Debbie Downer) and memberships in groups such as “I hate Mondays” or “Working is for suckers.”
I advise setting privacy settings for “just friends” for everything except for “About Me” (write a professional bio), “Education and Work” and “Contact Info.” Opening these sections to “everyone” helps recruiters using Facebook find you and also allows various Facebook applications, such as BranchOut, Jibe.com and SimplyHired.com’s Facebook tool to connect you with potential opportunities.
LP: You say social media can connect people to others they’d otherwise never meet. How can that help a young job seeker?
MS: Any job seeker or business owner’s goal is to be found. Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, outlines how important it is to broaden your network – to meet and connect with “weak ties,” people who previously had no direct relationship with you – in order to find contacts who can help. Touching base with people beyond your immediate network may be just the thing you need to connect with someone who can really help you propel your plans forward.
Another thing many not already involved in social media don’t realize: online connections have a tendency to be extremely generous and willing to help. The book is full of stories of people who received crucial help from strangers online.
Be Your Own Publicist to Jumpstart Your Career
Posted in Networking and Personal Branding Social Media on March 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm
By Lindsey Pollak
Ever wish you had your own personal PR rep to guide and guard your reputation in your search for the perfect career? In this podcast interview, I interview Meryl Weinsaft Cooper, co-author of the brand new book, Be Your Own Best Publicist. Meryl shares her tips for taking control of your own personal brand using expert PR strategies.
A few of the many tips Meryl shares are:
- Always have a plan for your career…and have a back-up plan. Have direction. Figure out the steps you will take to get there.
- It’s all about who you know. Your network is your net worth. Make sure you’re taking steps to cultivate your network on a regular basis. Think about who you know, and who you can reach out to. And think outside of the box! Your sister might have a college roommate who may be completely willing to make an introduction.
- Anything you say or post online can and will be used against you. Your digital profile will outlast you. It is your lasting legacy, so be very careful about what you post. Keep in mind that Google is your first resume. Google yourself, and set up a Google alert for your name to keep tabs on the image you are portraying online.
Click here to listen to the full 15-minute interview.
Learn more about Meryl at www.beyourownbestpublicist.com
Find Meryl’s book, Be Your Own Best Publicist, at Amazon.com.
Many thanks to Meryl for her time and for the great tips she shared, and as always, thank you to our sponsor, Manpower Professional.
A Career Tip from the Academy Awards: Milk It!
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Networking and Personal Branding Social Media on March 3, 2011 at 4:04 pm
I’ve long been a fan of the Academy Awards. Every year around this time I spend who-knows-how-many hours watching the pre-event predictions, the endless red carpet coverage, the three-hours-plus event itself, the nonstop stream of Twitter and Facebook commentary and the days of post-show analysis.
This year, perhaps because the show itself was pretty boring, my mind started to wander away from the glamorous gowns and gold statues and started to ponder the genius of the whole Oscars juggernaut. I began to ponder how the Academy Awards organization, the movie studios and the nominated actors are absolute geniuses at Milking an Event for All It’s Worth.
This is a good career tip.
In today’s crazy-busy world, it takes a lot of time and energy to attend a live networking event, conference or any other career-boosting activity. Unfortunately, for many people the event itself exists in a bubble with no pre-thought or after-thought. This is a mistake. If you’re going to spend your precious time and money attending an event, you’ve got to milk it for all it’s worth. Here are some tips:
Before the event:
- See if the event is posted on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter and RSVP on those sites in addition to sending in your regular registration. This is a way to promote to your followers that you are actively networking and it also puts you on the radar screen of the event organizers and other participants.
- Research the host organization, the speakers and the participants (if you’re able to view a list) so you can make a plan for which people you’d like to meet when you’re on-site.
- Follow all of the above people on Twitter and see what topics are interesting to them. If the event you’re attending has a hashtag (for example, #MarketingConf2011), use that in your tweets to show that you are attending, and comment on issues that will be addressed at the conference.
- Here’s a tip that’s especially helpful for shy types: Reach out to a few speakers or attendees beforehand by email, LinkedIn or Twitter to introduce yourself and say that you’re excited to connect in person. This makes it much easier to go up and introduce yourself at the event since you can reference your previous interaction.
During the event:
- Introduce yourself to the event organizers. This is especially important if you’re interesting in future speaking opportunities, as many event organizers are already planning for the following year’s conference. This is also a good idea for job seekers — the event organizers may be aware of sponsors or attendees who are hiring.
- Tweet! If you haven’t yet installed Twitter on your mobile device, it’s an absolute must for making the most of conferences. I’ve met dozens of people because we’ve reacted to each other’s tweets during a conference. Again, be sure to use the event’s hashtag and follow other people who are tweeting at the same event. Also, lots of people follow the tweets for events they’re not attending, so it’s a great way to network with those folks as well.
- Take photos. People love to be tagged online, so snap a few pics (especially ones of you standing with other attendees or speakers) and ask each person if it’s okay to post and tag those photos on Twitter or Facebook. This shows your broader network that you are active and connected, and it’s gives you a great excuse to keep in touch with the people you meet.
- Consider creating an “event-within-the-event.” This is a trick I picked up from networking guru Keith Ferrazzi, who always invites a group of event attendees to join him for coffee or dinner to create a more intimate networking environment during a larger networking event. As a less complicated (and less expensive) version of this, simply invite someone you meet to sit with you at lunchtime.
- Another great tip from Ferrazzi is to briefly introduce yourself before you ask a question during a workshop or speech (and you should always ask a question!). This makes you memorable to the speaker and the entire audience and often leads to further conversation opportunities.
- When you meet someone you’d like to keep in touch with, immediately ask that person when would be a good time to follow up. Jot the person’s follow-up instructions down on the back of his or her business card so you don’t forget.
After the event:
- Schedule all of those follow-up actions into your calendar right away. In addition to scheduling follow-up with the people you met, schedule follow-up with yourself. Many of us walk away from conferences or networking events with a few ideas — “I should really buy that speaker’s book,” “That career coach so-and-so mentioned sounds like someone who might be able to help me,” “I want to look up that website the small business tax expert mentioned.” Don’t let these ideas fall through the cracks! Look through any notes you took at the event or any handouts you received and transfer those action items directly onto your to-do list.
- Write a blog post or Facebook note sharing what you learned or experienced at the conference. Many organizations will link to posts about their events, giving you broader exposure, and the people in your network will appreciate that you want to share the knowledge you gained.
- Sign up for another event. Momentum is important when it comes to networking, so look around for other opportunities to get out there and milk another event for all it’s worth!
What have you done to maximize your attendance at a live event? Please share!
Career Advice from Punxsutawney Phil
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals on February 2, 2011 at 12:37 pm
While anxiously awaiting Punxsy Phil’s big prediction on Groundhog Day, I started to think about the star himself. Except for the fact that he only works one day a year, Phil is a professional role model in several ways that provide good lessons for us all:
- Phil knows his unique value proposition. When it comes to personal branding — an essential element of career success in the 21st century — it’s very important to differentiate yourself, to know what you do better than anyone else. Phil has this nailed. According to his website, Phil is “the only true weather forecasting groundhog.” I challenge you to create such a succinct and compelling pitch!
- Phil employs an online and offline personal branding strategy. In addition to being clear on his unique abilities, Phil is smart about employing in-person and online efforts to connect with people. In recent years, he has become savvy about leveraging his annual in-person (in-groundhog?) event online by broadcasting a live webcast, managing an informative website and frequently updating his Facebook fan page. How can you better combine your online and offline networking or personal branding efforts?
- Phil delivers on his promises. There are few things more irritating to an employer than an employee who overpromises and underdelivers. If you say, “I’ll have that report to you by Friday,” don’t send it the following Monday. Phil understands the importance of reliability. Looking back at the history of his work, you can see that Phil always emerges from his burrow on February 2 between 7:20 – 7:30am and makes his annual prediction. Where in your career can you do a better job of setting and meeting expectations?
- Phil surrounds himself with supporters. Did you ever notice all the guys in top hats surrounding Phil during his big moment? These men are known as Phil’s Inner Circle, and although I personally would like to see more gender, ethnic and generational diversity on his team, I commend Phil on knowing that no one can be a star performer alone. We all need a strong group of mentors, advisers, friends and colleagues to support us on the good days (early spring!) and bad (six more weeks of winter). Do you have a deep bench of supporters helping you as your career grows?
- Phil “does less and accomplishes more.” As previously mentioned, Phil works just one day a year for a few minutes (and people thought The 4-Hour Workweek was radical!), but he is undoubtedly at the top of his profession. While I’m not suggesting we should all adopt Phil’s schedule, I do think his success is a nice reminder that working smarter, not harder, is a worthy goal for us all. Is there an area of your career where you can do less and accomplish more?
Happy Groundhog Day!
Lessons from 4 Days Without My BlackBerry
Posted in Generation Y/Millennials on October 29, 2010 at 8:00 am
According to a recent post on NewYorkTimes.com, 75 percent of Millennial-aged American respondents to a survey sponsored by the Wi-Fi Alliance said that a week without Wi-Fi would leave them grumpier than a week without coffee or tea.
I read the article and didn’t give it much thought. After all, when would anyone actually have to live without wi-fi, coffee or tea?
Well.
Late Sunday evening, I landed in London after a long flight across the Atlantic Ocean. About three seconds later, I did what I always do when my plane touches down on the runway: I turned on my BlackBerry to check messages.
Although I had called my wireless provider before I left the U.S. to make sure my phone, email and texting capabilities would work overseas, my BlackBerry did not get the memo. “No Signal” was all it said, no matter how many buttons I pressed, no matter how many settings I adjusted, no matter how many times I turned it on and off and removed the battery.
The next day I tried everything to get it working — hotel concierge, mobile phone store, email to customer support, paying a fortune to actually call customer support from London — but my BlackBerry still would not work. So I resigned myself to four days without constant connection. Here is what happened:
1. I paid more attention to my surroundings. During some down time on my business trip, I took a two-hour double-decker bus tour of London. It was fabulous: Big Ben, London Bridge, Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace and all amazing stops in between. I’m embarrassed to say, though, how many times I felt myself instinctively reaching into my bag to check my BlackBerry for messages.
Each time I realized I didn’t have it, I was forced to notice more of the incredible architecture all around me, discern more of the marks from where bombs fell in World War II and take in more of the historical facts the tour guide was sharing. I know this sounds incredibly cliché, but I really did digest more of my surroundings because I was totally present and not splitting my attention between London and a tiny screen.
2. I missed sharing. All of that said, I also felt some disappointment that I couldn’t immediately share the experience with everyone back home. I’ve become so accustomed to tweeting, Facebooking and sharing on LinkedIn that I kept thinking about what I wanted to tell various people about various things — personal and professional — that happened on my trip. I wish I could share all of that with you now, but I forgot most of it. Social media really has become an indispensable and important part of my personal and professional life.
3. I checked email more efficiently. This is a well-known email management strategy, and one that I have trouble implementing when I’m in my own office. One of the most effective ways to manage email is to check it in batches a few times a day. Because I was out and about in London without my BlackBerry, the only way I could check email was in batches when I returned back to my hotel once or twice a day and in the evenings. I found that I zipped through messages pretty quickly because I answered them in bulk rather than in a trickle throughout the day. If you struggle with email management, give this batching tactic a shot. I’m going to try to stick with it when I get back to my desk.
4. I found alternatives. Instead of calling my husband from my BlackBerry as I usually do when I’m traveling, we used Skype and our webcams to video chat from across the ocean. It was great and we’re planning to do that every time we travel. Instead of calling in to a webinar I was teaching, I tried out the VoIP system on the webinar system and it worked just as well — and was totally free. And, instead of burying my head in my BlackBerry to find directions around town, I asked people for directions and, in the process, had some really nice conversations and got some great recommendations for additional places to see and things to do.
Will I go back to using my BlackBerry when I get home from London? Absolutely. But I’m surprised how glad I am that I had the experience of living without it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, disconnected or in a rut, I recommend shutting off your mobile device for a few days and see what you learn. The results may surprise you.
What’s New on LinkedIn
Posted in Generation Y/Millennials Recommended Career Resources Social Media on October 21, 2010 at 4:16 pm
As a spokesperson for LinkedIn, I’m in the midst of a fun tour of college campuses to launch Career Explorer, LinkedIn’s forthcoming new tool for students and recent grads. Universities I’m visiting on the tour include NYU, USC, BYU and University of Illinois. If you’re a student or alum from one of these schools, please drop me a note or check out my event photos on Facebook. (p.s. recommendations of the best cupcake spot near each campus are always appreciated!)
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing information about Career Explorer and some other new features of LinkedIn that can help you in your job or internship search and your overall career development.
Promote Your Certifications, Publications and Fluency. One of the most frequent questions I hear from students is, “What should I include in my LinkedIn profile?” The answer is to include any info you would put on your resume, plus additional information such as campus leadership roles, volunteer activities, examples of your work (by sharing web links or by posting documents to the SlideShare or Box.net apps) and incorporating keywords that a recruiter might use to find someone with your skills.
Now, LinkedIn has added more opportunities to promote your skills with new profile sections. Click on “edit profile” and you’ll see areas to promote publications (such as articles you’ve written for the campus newspaper or blogs you write), language knowledge (be careful here — don’t claim fluency unless you’re actually fluent), additional skills, formal certifications you’ve attained and even patents if you have any. It’s no secret we’re in a super competitive job market right now, so take advantage of these new opportunities to promote any differentiators you have.
Follow Companies. Another new feature added to LinkedIn in the past few months is the ability to follow companies. With this tool, you have the opportunity to receive regular updates on the activities of any organization you choose to follow. This is absolutely essential information to have for the companies you hope to work for someday, so I recommend following any and all organizations on your prospect list.
Simply visit the Company Page of any one of over one million organizations on LinkedIn, and click “follow company” in the top right-hand corner. Once you’ve done this, you’ll begin seeing updates, job postings, employee movements and any other news from that organization appear on the newsfeed of your LinkedIn homepage.
Coming Soon! Career Explorer. Currently in beta testing on 60 college campuses (contact your career center to learn if your school is on the list), Career Explorer is a brand new, free tool that LinkedIn has created, with the sponsorship of PwC, to help students navigate LinkedIn and figure out their potential career paths. I’ll be sharing more about this tool in the future, but here is a brief introduction:
To use Career Explorer, you’ll need to set up a LinkedIn account if you don’t have one already. Next, you’ll log in to the tool and enter your major and desired industry. Career Explorer will then guide you to 1) learn about different industries and potential jobs, 2) map out a potential career path (or multiple paths if you’re undecided) and 3) find and build connections with the people on LinkedIn who have taken similar paths and might be good for you to know.
Expect a rollout of Career Explorer to all universities in the coming weeks.
Have questions or comments about using LinkedIn as a student or recent grad? Please post below!
My interview on the Personal Branding Blog
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources Social Media on February 25, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Many thanks to Dan Schawbel for interviewing me on his Personal Branding Blog.
Here is an excerpt:
Dan: When you go to speak to students across the country, how have you accessed their proficiency in job searching and resume building through online means? Most students I talk to don’t know what LinkedIn is. What are your experiences?
Lindsey: A year or so ago, very few students I met had even heard of LinkedIn. Today, I’d say about 1/4 of students at my workshops are aware of the site, but most don’t really know how to make the most of it. I believe that an active presence on LinkedIn is no longer optional for a career-minded person of any age, so I talk about it in every speech and workshop I give.
1. First, I advise students (and everyone else!) to set up a complete profile including keywords a recruiter or business owner might use to find someone with your skills and interests.
2. Then I recommend joining groups on LinkedIn (such as the Personal Branding group, of course) to build connections and become part of conversations about industry news.
3. Third, I recommend customizing those little “I’d like to add you as a connection” messages – that’s a great way to stand out and show that you are someone who takes the time to personalize your communications.
Another important tip, particularly for those who are just starting out in the workforce, is to scour other people’s LinkedIn profiles to look for companies you may want to apply to, job titles or professions you didn’t know about, professional organizations where you might network and people with similar interests who might be willing to offer some job search advice. If you’re trying to build your own personal brand, LinkedIn is incredibly valuable as a massive database of other people’s personal brands and career paths to research.
Tips for staying afloat in a grim job market
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources on February 10, 2009 at 8:17 am
If you walked around midtown Manhattan during the summer, you might have seen the financial executive, in his late 40s, who paraded around in a sandwich board declaring “Experienced MIT Grad for Hire” and handing out copies of his resume.
A few months later, you might have come across a group of job-hunting, 20-something recent graduates promoting their skills though sidebar advertisements on Facebook and links to their online resumes.
What intrigues me about these methods is not just the guts these job seekers displayed. It’s the different generational approaches to self-promotion. The baby boomer gravitated to in-person, face-to-face networking; the Millennial went right to the Web.
If you are looking for a job in the current recession, my best advice is to borrow from the playbook of both of these self-promoters: combine “old-fashioned” methods with new technologies. Diane K. Danielson, my colleague and co-author on the book The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking, calls this a “clicks and mix” strategy, and it’s an important marketing strategy if you’re looking for a new position.
Here’s why: Young adults are competing in the job market with much more qualified people who have been laid off and need to find any job they can. At the same time, older professionals are competing with younger workers who are willing to be hired for less money and security. And, in this economy, every job seeker has to try every job-hunting method available.
Here are some self-marketing tips for job seekers of all generations: click here to read the rest of this article on ABC News on Campus…
Job Action Day Post: 5 things to do right now if you are job hunting
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources Social Media on November 3, 2008 at 1:00 am
Today is Job Action Day!
Job Action Day, started by Dr. Randall Hansen of Quintessential Careers, is a day of empowerment for workers and job seekers — a day “to put your career and job in the forefront, making plans, taking action.”
In the spirit of action, my post today focuses on five actions you can take right now if you are looking for a job (or suspect you might be job hunting soon). I’ve also included links to some additional career advice blogs and job hunting resources so you can find even more tips.
1. Get organized with a job search notebook. This will be your one and only place to keep track of to-do lists, ideas, company research, notes from workshops and interviews, advice from career advisors and other important information. From this point forward, keep your job search notebook with you at all times. You never know when you might think of a new idea or hear about a company or program or person you want to look into. By keeping all of your notes in one place, you’re less likely to lose any data and more likely to keep focused. If you’re really hard core, you can even keep the notebook on your nightstand, in case you have any great career brainstorms while you’re dozing off to sleep at night.
For more advice on organizing a job search, check out: JibberJobber.com.
2. Call your alma mater’s career services office. Almost every college and university career services office will provide free (that’s right, free) job search support to alumni. Services that can cost hundreds of dollars in the “real world” are available at no cost from the college you attended. This includes career counseling, resume editing, interview prep, exclusive networking events, access to alumni databases and much more. If you’re not working with your college’s career services office, you are missing an enormous opportunity. (more…)
30/20 Vision Podcast: Next episode Friday at 5:00pm ET
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Social Media on September 25, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Join twentysomething experts Alexandra Levit, Christine Hassler and me for a new episode of 30/20 Vision, airing on Blog Talk Radio Friday at 5PM ET.
We’ll be talking about the dos and don’ts of social networking.
Hope you’ll join us on the call, and if you can’t make it, be sure to check out the archive!
