Using Social Media To Find A Job

JOB HUNTING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA March 2009 Table of contents: Deﬁning and creating a strategy for social media. Pages 2, 3 Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media. Page 4 Biographies: Panelists: Kim Novik and Kathleen Sheridan Page 5 Host and Director of New Media: Wahyd Vannoni Page 5 Contact: Wahyd Vannoni Director of New Media / Coach The Speech Improvement Company, Inc. 1614 Beacon Street Brookline, MA 02446 USA Phone: +1 617-739-3330 Fax: +1 617-232-9430 wahyd.vannoni@speechimprovement.com Connect: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vannoni 1

Seminar: Job Hunting Through Social Media 16 March 2009 The Following is a summary of a seminar moderated by Wahyd Vannoni, Director of New Me- dia at the Speech Improvement Inc, in Boston, MA. For the purpose of this document, the terms “social media” and “social networks” are inter- changeable. They refer to professional sites such as LinkedIn and extend to Flickr, Youtube, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter in no particular order. Strategy While employment is an integral part of life, most people, including college graduates, still go about looking for a job with few tactics and no strategy. What emerged from our conversation is that a job-hunting strategy ultimately includes devising long-term personal goals. Strategy also has to do with personal branding.LinkedIn 1. Ultimate intent Before you start a personal blog, launch your own website or start filling your own profile on linkedin, you should ask yourself what is, as Kim Novik put it, your “ultimate intent”. This can be centered around a proposition such as “I want to build peace” or “I want to contribute to finding renewable sources of energy”. This is likely to change as time goes by but it is essential to keep track of it throughout your professional career. Companies do this already: we all know that Google exists to “organize the world’s information”. 2. Personal statement Your ultimate intent will help you devise a personal statement. While personal statements may vary in length, think of it as the equivalent of an elevator pitch for a start-up company. What can you say in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs that will tell who you are, make you unique and the outline benefits you can bring? This last concept can also be spun into a sepa- rate and complementary “can-do” statement, depending on the situation you are in. 3. Find your own adjectives “Each brand can only own Think of someone or a company you have a high regard for: one word. Each word can what three adjectives would you use to describe this person or company? Now think about yourself; given your ultimate intent, only be owned by one what would be the three (perhaps up to five) adjectives that you brand. Take great care be- would like your colleagues, clients, recruiters, etc. to say if they fore you pick your word. It is going to be the god of were to describe you? your brand. “ This is the crucial step that will help you both devise your social Lord Maurice Saatchi media content and its design. 4.Establish, update and align your digital presence 2

At this point there are two possible starting points: either you From a question posted on have established a presence online, including through social me- Linkedin.com: dia, or you haven’t. “Do you systematically quot;googlequot; an applicant's Most of you will already have an email address and have joined a name to find out more about social media site. In this case, you need to update and align your that person?” existing digital footprint with your ultimate intent, personal “I've found a lot of stuff on statement and adjectives. The best way to do this, is to first LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr search for your name online and be aware of the results that ap- etc. It tells me a lot about pear. the person and his/her per- If you find any content that you think might be objectionable, sonality and interests.” attempt to delete it immediately. This is particularly true for Anna Paderna: students whose Facebook and Myspace pages may contain mate- rial that recruiters might consider unprofessional. Operations Manager at Hunter Group Whether or not links to your name make it to the top page, it is worth to show these results to friends and professional col- “My clients do it and I want leagues and ask for honest and open-ended feedback. to be the first to see what they will see!” Ideally the impression that your digital presence will make on friends and colleagues is the same as the one you are hoping to Susan Caldwell: broadcast. Consider yourself as the publisher of your own image Digerati Search, Inc. and brand. One way to do this is to ask specifically “when you Sr.V.P. Client Services look at my LinkedIn, blog or website, what adjectives come to mind?”. A crucial aspect of social media, is that your non-professional presence, (a blog on hiking for instance), may give you an advantage over other applicants for the same position. Indeed, social media may allow recruiters to find you as opposed to you chasing them. Social media also allows you to show the kind of person they might be hiring given that you have the right skills. You may consider putting links to your blogs and personal website on your cover letter, depending on the kind of job and industry you are targeting. 5.Where should you be online? As a first step, try to keep your Facebook and Myspace presence private. Facebook allows you, to keep all contents available to your network only. Secondly, for most people using a professional network such as LinkedIn will allow you to see and be seen. As for all websites, make sure that the content you post is reviewed and consistent with what people might find about you in other places. Thirdly, do not hesitate to establish your own presence either through a personal website, a blog, or both. These online presences can be about your hobbies (traveling, poetry) or your profession (give your perspective on your industry). What is crucial, is to be original and pro- vide value-added to your readers that they will not find anywhere else. Finally, you might want to go the extra mile by publishing webcasts and or personal videos. Again, as long as the technical and content quality is acceptable you might be able to generate a lot of interest. 6.Tying it all together If you are going to engage in social make sure that your presence supports your ultimate intent and that all your media cross-reference. 3

Do’s and Don’ts What you should and shouldnʼt do online. Opinions provided by the panelists and host. Do Donʼt •Be online because everybody •Keep in mind your ultimate else is. intent. •Start a blog or join a network •Search your name periodi- and then disregard it. cally. •Post content that people might find offen- •Opt for quality and originality when you pub- sive. lish your own content. •Post contradictory information in different •Keep your content updated, whether blog places. Beware of cross-referencing. entries or profile •Apply to several jobs at the same com- •Try to be published by independent third- pany in too short a time. parties •Post misleading information. •Keep track of your professional network and •Comment negatively on previous em- contact them periodically. Ask them how they ployers online. are doing and whether you can do anything for them. •Comment negatively on current clients, colleagues. •Make contact between people in your network who do not know each other but might •Take rejections personally. benefit from each other. •Act as though you would take any job or •Review books and articles relevant to your are desperate for employment. profession. Post those reviews. •Be proactive, establishing your brand is an Tip: ongoing endeavor not something that starts when you are laid-off or when you happen to need help. •Join professional associations and relate to them online. Show that you are involved and busy. •Ask for referrals and testimonials. •Show what you can bring to the organiza- tion. Ask and answer pertinent questions on LinkedIn.com. •Be genuine. This will let you know who is in your field and help •Establish your reputation. establish your reputation. Do some or all of the above and offer help to those who needed. 4

PANELISTS: Kim Novik and Kathleen Sheridan Kim Novik Kim Novick is a strategist, creative director, and executive producer with expertise in brand experience and the face-to-face space. Kim¹s roots are in theater. He was an observer at the Actors Studio under the guidance of Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Shelly Winters and Arthur Penn. He has 8 production-related OBIES with The Second Stage theater, and has quot;worked with them allquot;. In the late 80¹s Kim began producing ³industrials² and large-scale events, and moved to Boston in 1992 to work for Jack Morton Productions. He went on to establish Intermedia Services, a full-service production company. Other engagements include Consulting to IBM on worldwide event strategies, membership on the seminal team at BzzAgent, and brand strategy work for Captains of Industry. Touchstone projects include half-time shows for the NBA, Coca-Cola¹s Centennial Celebration, and Major League Baseball¹s first FanFest. Kim's practice now concentrates on quot;thought leadershipquot; programs that change the world and improve life for the under served. He is involved with PopTech, the Personal Democracy Fo- rum and is developing a conference,quot;Profits of Peacequot;, exploring sustainability quot;beyond greenquot;. He lives in Concord, MA with his wife, 2 children, dog and cat. http://www.knovick.com/home.html Kathleen Sheridan With nearly 20 years of combined experience as a management and recruitment professional, Kathleen Sheridan brings expertise and perspective from both sides of the hiring process. Having lived through the transition from quot;traditionalquot; hiring to today's social media, network- ing and technology-based job hunting, Kathleen has utilized virtually all means of sourcing and recruiting. As a staffing firm and corporate recruiter, Kathleen has interviewed literally thousands of can- didates via telephone and in person. She has supported hundreds of hiring managers for such firms as Reed Business Information, Genzyme, Fidelity Investments, Digitas, and most re- cently, Kenexa Corp., sourcing and placing professionals in positions across the spectrum from administrative, financial, IT, Sales, Consulting, Human Resources, Marketing, Creative, et.al. A talented researcher and writer, Kathleen has read, reviewed, edited, and helped write count- less resumes and job descriptions. Currently, Kathleen lends this expertise to job seekers with resume writing assistance and as a consultant on panels and in workshops. Wahyd Vannoni Wahyd is Director of New Media and Coach at the Speech Improvement Company. He has an extensive international background in media and corporate communications. His areas of expertise include communication strategy, personal branding, social media, mes- sage generation, interview skills public speaking and presentation skills. 5

Using Social Media To Find A Job

by Wahyd Vannoni on Mar 19, 2009

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Using Social Media To Find A Job — Document Transcript