Value of Twitter in a Job Search

I don't usually write about job searching. There are many people out there that already do that. I do offer help when asked and have even coached a few people. Part of what I try to get across to people is the value of Twitter in a job search. There are ways of searching for jobs by job type, field or location. Additionally you can get connected with a multitude of recruiters and start to build relationships. You can also connect with the HR person you may want to get connected to from a particular company. You can also connect with career coachs and people that can help with resume writing and job search tips.

One such person is Miriam Salpeter of Keppie Careers. I point out Miriam for a couple of reasons. First I have met her at a couple of Tweet ups. Secondly I am connected to her on Twitter. Thirdly, she has an excellent blog post entitled Twitter Users are more likely to get job interviews, that I think all job searchers should read. She says that "Sending tweets that inspire people to read, retweet and reply requires an ability to communicate in the short form. It turns out this may be much more valuable than you might have realized!" She then discusses research that makes the point "The company believes job seekers who use Twitter are more likely to be shortlisted because they write interesting, eye-catching and succinct CV summaries which appeals to recruiters."


There is some debate on whether that result is due to the fact that Twitter attracts better writers or if, by writing Tweets, one becomes better at being able to convey information more effectively in short phrases. I believe, as does Miriam, that a bit of both applies. Can you become a better writer through Twitter? Well she discusses Gladwell's Outliers and the 10,000 hour rule of becoming an expert. Practice makes perfect? Maybe not, but practice does make better for sure.

Miriam's post offers some tips and a good number of sites to review to help you get started on Twitter or to use Twitter better. So check it out. Why deny yourself another tool to finding that next job?

And for those of you that aren't looking for jobs, well Twitter is an excellent tool for a good number of other things. Check out my post on The Value of Twitter: Putting Some RICE in Your Social Media Diet.

By the way, I would like to hear of success stories on using Twitter to find a job if you have one.

The Value of Twitter: Putting Some RICE in Your Social Media Diet

I attended a networking last evening. It was people from various walks of business that had one thing in common, the host of the event. We are people that she has met through various methods, but I was one exception. I was the only one that she had met through Twitter. We don't quite remember who followed who first, but upon looking at her Twitter page and her contact information I sent her a message and asked for a face-to-face over a cup of coffee. She assented and we had a very pleasant discussion. She is a successful business person and business advisor that I felt fortunate to be able to connect with.

Well as the networking began I was introduced several times as the person she had met through Twitter, so I spent some time explaining to people how that had occurred and of course fielded a number of questions on how and why I thought Twitter was valuable. Thinking back over what I told people I have developed an acronym that to me best describes the value of Twitter. RICE

• R stands for Resources. If I need a reference, a referral to someone, a tool, a place to meet, a restaurant, etc. there are people out there that will be able to give me that resource. I have discovered a number of great blogs to read as a result and have had a number of referalls made to me as well.
• I stands for Information. Search engines, mostly Google and Yahoo and now Bing, were where I usually went to find information on human resources topics. Today I include Twitter, and often that is the first place I go. If you ask for something you get answers from people who have already filtered the monumental amount of information that is on the Internet. So rather than having to sort through those things myself why not use what others have already filtered.
• C stands for Contacts. I have "met" so many great professionals in HR and employment law through the "follow" function on Twitter. Many of these people I feel I come to know well enough to call them "friend", even though we have never met in person. I have contacts around the country. I have had the opportunity to meet some of them as they travel to Atlanta or as I travel to their locale. But I have also meet a number of people here in the Atlanta area from fields that I would have not generally sought out. Tweet Ups get organized and you actually have an opportunity to go meet in person at a local restaurant and do some "old-time" networking. It is a great way to get out of the usual circle of contacts that you may have developed through the years. Business and friendships can, and do, develop.
• E stands for Energy. As you read tweets, or connect with people, there is a palpable energy that you pick up. People get excited about their topics, their lives, and the livelihoods and  that ends up making you excited too. You can draw on that energy to renew yourself during the day. You can pick up this energy and transmit yours to others.

There are certainly some downsides to Twitter, but that depends on what you try to get out of it. Some people use it only to follow a celebrity with whom they are obsessed. Some use it soley as a display of their vanity and only transmit but don't interact. Some people get so caught up in it that it becomes a black hole that sucks their time away. You do have to be careful about that. But the nice thing about Twitter is you can do as little or as much as you want to do. You only follow who you want and only allow people to follow you as you want. You control what you say and how often you say it and even to whom. Not everything has to be public and you can even be anonymous, though to me that lessons the value.

But I think it is great tool for HR professionals to use to broaden your horizens. So put a bit of RICE in your social media diet and become a Twitter user today.

Putting the "SOCIAL" into Social Media

There is a great deal of material on social media being produced on a daily basis. There are millions of people tweeting, linking, posting, "booking" each day. Some are personal connections, some are business oriented. Generally in the personal connections there has at sometime in the past been some "in-person" connection, albeit some may be in the distant past, as in connecting with a high school classmate from 30 some odd years ago. Even some of your business connections through LinkedIn may have had an in-person connection at some point. But we get caught up in the connection mania and start adding people like crazy and as a result we often forget the SOCIAL part of social media. I am a light-wight tweeter following just over 670 people and an even lighter-weight LinkedIn user with about 180 connections. But even with these numbers the social aspects can get lost.

I had a fellow tweeter ask me if I would be interested in a phone conversation, as she had noticed I was in the Atlanta, Georgia area as was she. I suggested rather than a phone call I would like to meet in person. So we fit it into our schedules and I had the good fortune to meet Beth A. Miller of Executive Velocity (ExecVelocity on Twitter). Not only was it a very pleasant hour, but it now has the potential for being a relationship that may help both of us in our businesses.

Given that encounter I wanted to encourage people to take their social media relationships and put the in-person social contact in there as well. Here are some tips for doing this.

1. Many people are skittish about meeting in person. Learn from the professional networkers. Harvey Mackay is the "old dog" of networking (no offense to Harvey, he is actually a personal role model for me). He has written numerous books including Swim With the Sharks Withour Being Eaten Alive . He gives excellent advice on establishing, maintaining and effectively using your network. The new generation of super networker is Keith Ferrazzi. He is incredible. He has written two book, Never Eat Alone and Who's Got Your Back.
2. A second good way to meet face-to-face is to go to a Tweet-Up or a Blogger event. Meet those people you have been exchanging information with or have been following or will want to follow. Generally these are held in a pleasant social environment (I go to one held at Pizzaria Venti) and people get relaxed and put a person to the tweet.
3. Meet other people at conferences. I have not had the luck to go to one yet, but I read that they are getting bigger and bigger. Recent ones have been held in NYC and Louisville. But you can also go to other association meetings and get to know the bloggers, tweeters and "facers" in the group.
4. Lastly, if there is someone you truly want to meet then send a message, make a call and suggest a meeting. Takes some guts (what if they don't find you as interesting?) but it won't happen if you don't do it. Take the leap.

Well those are some of my suggestions. I hope readers who are better at this will suggest some other ways to put the SOCIAL into social media. Let's hear from you.

Networking Is More Than Just Adding A Contact on Social Media

Dan Schawbel, a personal branding expert, put a link about LinkedIn on Twitter. The article is entitled LinkedIn Skyrockets As Job Losses Mount. Apparently more and more people join as they are getting laid off. I have seen alot of people join and I have advised alot of people to join. I think it is important to be connected on social media. Here is my profile. However, there are some fundamentals about networking that are important to remember, regardless if that is done through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, email, in person or on the telephone. These fundamentals include:

1. Actually connect with the person, don't just add them as a contact. They really serve no purpose just being on a list.


2. Don't start off immediately with an appeal to "help me find a job."


3. Pay attention to what is said about or by the person you are contacting. Try to connect with them through some interest of theirs.


4. Keep in touch with them by emailing or snail mailing some item about that interest. You may have noticed they went to a particular school or they support a particular team or they have a favorite author, etc.


5. FOLLOW UP with them, and don't wait to do it. Keith Ferrazzi talks about the importance of this in his Greenlight Community blogs.


6. STAY IN TOUCH. Don't let the contact die. People are busy. They are not going to remember you and your particular need if they do not hear from you on occassion.


7. And lastly, stay in touch even AFTER you become employed. You never know, you may need them again and it is much easier to keep the contact than it is to start them up again.

Oh, and a good tip to be interesting to people is to be interested in them. I suggest you read Keith Ferrazzi's Never Eat Dinner Alone or Harvey Mackay's Swim With the Sharks.

Job Hunting in the 21st Century

I was going to post about HR and using social media, since Twitter has been big in the news yesterday and today. But in reading Twitter this morning I came across this article, the link to which, was posted by Jim Stroud on Twitter. The article is entitled "7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media" and points out the various segements of social media that you should be aware of and using. Since this focuses on job hunting pass it on to your friends who are looking or use it yourself if needed. Either way learn the lessons and become "savvy". It is important and will be even more so in the very near future.

Back to the Future Part II

You got lucky! Yesterday I presented 5 trends from 2002 and commented on them in 2008. I said I would present another 5 today. Well I miss counted. There were only 8 to begin with so you will only have to look at 3 today. Here we go.

Trend #6 (from HRNext's 2002 trend projection)
Acquisitions and mergers. Many companies are merging as the sluggish economy lingers, and affected HR managers will need to figure out how to merge payroll, handbooks, policies and cultures. It's important to keep key talent during mergers, so affected HR managers will play a strategic role in the process.

This is as important today as it was in 2002. The key point to this is that HR needs to be involved in this FROM THE BEGINNING. These mergers and acquisitions are being made from a financial perspective and then HR is dragged in to help straighten out the mess of the people side. It would help if HR was involved from the get-go. Perhaps some of the issues could be avoided. Mergers to watch: Delta and Northwest, banks, and now GM and Chrysler.

Trend #7
The aging workforce. As the 'Boomers' get gray, more and more of the workforce will continue to go the same way. Furthermore, better health care is extending lives and many feel up to working well into their sixties and seventies. Still others have to keep working because they failed to save enough for retirement, or saw retirement assets shrink in the stock market. HR managers will need to be wary of issues related to recruiting, hiring and employing older workers without discriminating against them, or appearing to.

Well the 'Boomers' have not gotten any younger in the last 6 years, so all those issues of dealing with older workers still exist. Additionally, in the past six years, we have had an influx of Gen Y'ers. This age diversity in the workplace has presented HR and management a challenge and will continue to do so. Relationships, promotional tracks, reward systems and more will be challenged by this age diversity.

Trend #8
Technology. HR Departments will make better use of the Internet and intranets, to store, organize and disseminate information to employees as well as implement self-service technology to reduce HR costs. The Web will continue to become an important tool for HR Departments, but one that can be difficult to implement.

Use of the Internet and technology has increased tremendously. One of the major shifts has been in the importance of social networking sites. They are no longer just the domain of teenagers. Facebook, LinkedIn and others are now becoming sources and resources for HR departments in looking for and keeping track of employees. The use of these sites for recruitment and background checks has caused some issues of a legal natures. For example, does checking out a Facebook page or doing a Google search as a reference check violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It also causes some potential performance issues. Does your employee being connected to others on Twitter help productivity or hinder productivity? How does the manager control this? And lastly blogging has caused a number of problems in productivity and company secrecy. So Web 2.0 is a double edged sword that HR has to get a handle on before it gets out of control.

If you are in HR and these terms are unfamiliar to you then you need a lot of education. Even those of you familiar with them need to think of the ramifications of Web 2.0 in your workplace.

Is Your Head In the Cloud?: Education For The HR Department

Jim Stroud, of the Recruiters Lounge, pointed out in a Tweet today the 12 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today, from the blog site Zenhabits. It is pretty interesting and I would recommend it as a read. But directing you to two new blog sites is not my purpose.

My purpose this fine day is to educate you a bit since most of us HR people are not the most technologically savvy folks there are. In the 12 New Rules Leo Babauta uses the term "the cloud", a term I must admit I was not familiar with until just this past Thursday when I heard a story on NPR. This story was called Computing in the Cloud: Who Owns Your Files? It describes how people are keeping all their files on the Internet and not stored on computers. Calendars, shared files, records, email, etc. are stored out in "the cloud" of the Internet and not resident on your computer. The article describes the advantages and disadvantages of both methods of storage, but indicate that the wave of the future is the "cloud." Here is the definition of THE CLOUD on Wikipedia.

So that is your education for the day. You now know what "the cloud" is so when someone more technical than you, or younger than you, or more savvy than you, uses it you will not look like a doofus. You will understand and be able to converse intelligently on the subject. And people will be impressed.

Oh by the way, did I throw you with the word TWEET that I used earlier? A tweet is a communication on Twitter. Twitter is a social networking site that allows for quick communication with a wide variety of people. All the fashionable and up-to-date HR people are using it to expand their horizons and network with other professionals. Check it out.

To quote Sean Connery's charactor in The Untouchables, "Here endth the lesson."