Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’

Growth of Social Media – Infographic

September 4th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

I ran into this very interesting infographic on LinkedIn today, thanks to David Merzel‘s post on the Job-Hunt Help LinkedIn Group, and it’s worth sharing.  This graphic was originally published on SearchEngineJournal.com in late August, so it’s current, comparing 2010 and 2011 data.

You will see it includes some of the impact of social media on recruiting and job search, particularly how employers research in social media and the impact of that research.

It’s long and global.  I recommend that you read the whole thing. The data sources are at the bottom of the graphic.  If you click on it, you can see a larger version of it.
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Don’t Send Me (or Anyone Else) Your Resume!

August 15th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

“Spray and pray” resume distribution (sending it to every email address you can find or posting it in every job board you can find) is a waste of time, and makes you look desperate and dumb.  Don’t do it yourself, and don’t hire a resume distribution “service” to do it for you.  

Not only do you look desperate, spray-and-pray may send your resume into the wrong hands, for example, to:

  • Your current boss, if you are employed, or someone else you work with, which can result in loss of the job you have.
  • Someone who will use your information for their own purposes completely unrelated to job search – selling your contact information to mass marketers, for example.  Need more spam, junk phone calls, or junk mail?
  • Someone intent on identity theft or other nasty action.

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Be on LinkedIn or BeKnown? No Contest!

July 4th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Frankly, I’m amazed at all the good press about BeKnown, the new Facebook app for professional networking and job search by Monster.  The privacy implications for employed job seekers are terrible!

If you currently have a job, DO **NOT** USE  BeKnown!

Be warned!  When I joined BeKnown to look around so I could write this blog post, BeKnown published this announcement on my Facebook Wall:

YIKES!  Good thing I’m not a job seeker with a job to protect and an employer or co-workers checking out my Facebook Wall!  My “secret” would be out!  Yes, you can delete that first post, but what about BeKnown’s next one!  And the one after that…

When an employer finds out about an employee’s job search,
that job seeker is frequently terminated! 

Employers are, often rightly, worried about loss of clients, business secrets, insider information, etc. when an employee leaves  So they pull the plug on that job-seeking employee as soon as they find out about the job search, sending them out the door quickly before much damage can be done.

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5 Ways You Look Out-of-Date in Your Job Search

February 12th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

For most of us, a job search, fortunately, is NOT something we do often enough to be really proficient.  So, when the time comes to job search, we must look at what is effective now – not what we did when we last hunted for a job 2, 5, or 15 years ago.

Effective job search methods have changed a great deal since 2007 because recruiting methods have changed dramatically with the widespread use of the Internet and search engines and, particularly in the last 2 years, with the growth of social media.

If job seekers don’t understand how “the new system” works, they can look out-of-date and less desirable as potential employees.  These are the 5 major ways that job seekers can look out of date. (more…)

Future of Job Search: 3 Predictions & 2 Wishes

January 3rd, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Looking into my foggy crystal ball, these are the trends I see for  2011, or “to infinity and beyond!” as our friend Buzz Lightyear would have described it.  I have 3 predictions to make and 2 fervent wishes.

First, the 3 predictions:

1.  Increasing use of mobile apps – iPad, iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, etc.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, Droid, BlackBerry, etc., you can job search on the bus, in the dentist’s waiting room, in a restaurant while you wait for a friend or the check, etc.  You can also edit and send your resume, write a LinkedIn Recommendation for your colleague, check for local MeetUps, and on and on and on.

LinkedIn and Twitter have free mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, etc.  Two of my favorite job posting sources, Indeed and LinkUp for example, now have free mobile apps, so you can still job search even when you’re not at your computer.

And, the mapping app will help you find the location of that interview, while the traffic app helps you avoid the traffic jams and construction and the weather app keeps you informed of the latest blizzard or drenching rain storms. Plus, of course, the email and browser apps will keep you up to date on what’s going on in your digital world.

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New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight

October 5th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Career Spotlight: If you like helping people and have a facility for helping people resolve issues, you might find your perfect career fit as Child & Family Social Worker. They earn an average of $40,000/year, with expected 10-year job growth of 19%. Over 75% hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

Quote of the Week:  My favorite quote this week is from Steve Keating of Minnesota who Tweets as @LeadToday -

When you fall, make sure don’t get up empty handed.

New Articles: We launched 4 great new articles this week: (more…)

Employer Benefits of Employee LinkedIn Participation

September 22nd, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

Employers - AND Employees – Benefit from Employee LinkedIn Participation

It may be a surprise to some, but LinkedIn isn’t useful only for job search and recruiting.  Active participation is good for your career and good for your employer as well.

NOTE:  Before you join LinkedIn, or, in fact, participate in any social media, be sure to check for an official policy from your employer about employee use of social media. Some employers ban social media use by employees, at least while the employees are at work. Some don’t want any mention of the employer at all, while others think social media is great and encourage employee participation. So, it’s best to check for a policy and/or guidelines to be sure.

In fact, your employer may benefit from your active participation in LinkedIn. Even if you are the only employee who is a LinkedIn member, your participation puts your employer “on the map” (virtually) as an organization.

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Leveraging LinkedIn for Your Stealth Job Search

September 17th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

I strongly recommend that – if at all possible (and sometimes it is not possible) - people continue working in their old jobs while looking for their new jobs.  If you have the option, you are much more attractive to an employer when you are still employed.  Not logical, but very human (here’s why). 

Someone in Twitter recently disagreed with my recommendation in that article that people be sure their LinkedIn Profile is complete while they continue working in their current jobs. This person felt that being in LinkedIn signifies that someone is job searching. 

Yes, being active in LinkedIn can mean you are job hunting. But, most people in LinkedIn are working on expanding their network, getting in touch with thought leaders, former colleagues, and new potential clients, all to help them with their job performance. (More on how LinkedIn benefits your employer)

So, being in LinkedIn can also mean you are a savvy business person, leveraging current technology to improve your ability to do your existing job better, through better networking, and learning new skills.

NOTE:  Some employers do not want their employees using social media, particularly during working hours and/or using the employer’s computers, networks, etc. Check for a “Social Media Use” policy (and also an “Email and Internet Use” policy), to be sure that you are in compliance.

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10 Steps to Job Search Success!

September 3rd, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

An earlier post about wasting time in a job search described how job seekers waste their time and energy applying for hundreds of jobs, under the delusion that applying for jobs via job boards is how people land job. For over 85% of job seekers, applying via job boards is NOT what works!

Rather than hundreds of fruitless applications, this is what does work:

1.  Choose up to 3 job titles for jobs that you really want.

Why bother applying for jobs you don’t want?  If you landed one, you’d be miserable, most likely, and you probably wouldn’t be a good perfomer, so you’d be job hunting again – way too soon in this economy - and probably with less than stellar recommendations.

Let’s be serious here. Don’t pick “network TV news anchor” or “dermatologist” unless you have the credentials required of a network TV news anchor or dermatologist, respectively, or unless you have a plan to get those credentials before you start your job search.

If you really don’t know what you want (other than a paycheck), buy or borrow a copy of Richard Bolles best-selling book, “What Color Is Your Parachute.” Read the whole book, and do ALL the exercises.  This will be time very well spent!

Focusing on the few job titles for jobs you really want enables you to be more effective in your job search.

2.  Choose up to 20 target employers.

Find employers who seem to be financially stable, relatively secure in their market niche, and in the right location for you:

  • Check local Best Employer lists.
  • Ask family, friends, neighbors, even employees of various local companies, for the names of local employers that are good places to work – good management, fair pay, good benefits, etc. – whatever is important to you.
  • Go through the Yellow Pages of your phone book or search an online Yellow Pages for your location to find potential employers in the right kinds of businesses for you (e.g. food wholesalers, jewelry stores, IT consulting companies, etc. – whatever your target employers might be).
  • Identify more potential employers by searching on job titles, type of business, or the industry/sector you want in one of the job aggregator sites, like Job-Hunt’s sponsors Indeed.com, JustJobs.com, and LinkUp.com.

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LinkedIn Improvements

November 6th, 2008 by Susan P. Joyce

LinkedIn has undergone some major changes recently, and one of the most useful ones is the addition of the capability to have “discussions” with members of the different LinkedIn Groups you may have joined.

For me, it has turned LinkedIn from an enormous collection of names to a collection of people.  LinkedIn now enables you to interact more directly with people with whom you have something in common (or, presumably, you wouldn’t belong to the same Group), but who are not part of your first level connections.

I’ve joined a number of LinkedIn Groups associated with my past – my college, for example, and groups associated with my profession (“Career Professionals”) and my previous jobs (“digital alumni” for people, like me, who worked for Digital Equipment Corporation in the past).

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