Tag Archives: LinkedIn

Keep Your Networking Profiles Consistent

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One of the biggest problems across the boards of social media is how people inconsistently portray  themselves…I know preaching to the choir.

From job search profiles to how you tweet, it’s important to show your network the same person. And it all starts with discovering your niche.

So let’s go back to an old article I wrote:

“One of the most important things to find is your niche. What do you like to do? What are you good at? I just realized mine is Dating/Career (topic wise). It may seem like these two don’t go together, but they have more in common then you would think.”

Are you starting to see why it is so important to establish this first? Finding your niche (okay now I’m over using the word…but I kind of like it so suck it.) will not only make you more likely to progress in networking, but it will also put you ahead of the game. Normally the things you like/find interesting, are the ones you know more about.

The hardest part after discovering what it is you want to be known for, is keeping it consistent. Once you have created this digital identity for yourself, you need to stick to it so you can 1. gain a following and 2. create credibility for yourself.

“A Digital identity is basically an electronic representation of you. The difference being it’s availability to way more people. When you think of how many people you interact with on a normal basis, just walking to class it’s probably..at most 50. Online it’s more like 50,000. Because of the popularity is social networking sites, and the instant access it provides more people are turning to sites like Facebook or twitter to find potential employees.” Don’t Be a Rebecca Black 

Once you’ve done all the hard work and have joined social networks galore it’s time to make sure you keep your profile consistent. Talk about the same general things, back up your experience with articles, and surround yourself with people in the same area of expertise.

Here is an example of someone with bi polar social networks:

On Twitter this person talks about weather reports, and updates their followers with the latest storm watches.

But on LinkedIn, it says that they are a hiring manager for Borders.

While it is okay to have interests in the weather, but by just tweeting about it like that you would lead people to believe that it has something to do with your career. It would become something you would be known for on Twitter, but lack mentioning on BeKnown, LinkedIn or Facebook.

This inconsistency would lead people to doubt your credentials in all areas. Although it is definitely important to share your interests with the world, it’s equally important to keep all profiles consistent. So if we go back to our bi-polar network friend we can add into each profile his interest in weather, and by even copying over other information from his networks. He can craft a profile based on all of his previous ones, then use just that one.

In the long run having one persona that you are known for is a lot less work than maintaining multiple identities. So stick to one, and create a brand for yourself.

 

How To: Effectively Use Professional (social) Networks

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Joining the website, i.e. Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn etc.. isn’t the hard part. The hard part is figuring out what to do once you’re on it.

I am not ashamed to say it’s taken me a little over two years to grasp Twitter, LinkedIn still being a work in progress. It’s a little terrifying to put yourself out on the Internet, especially on a platform where future employers are watching. 

It used to take me hours to construct the perfect tweet, that I would then not send because I was too afraid that something would be wrong or someone might not understand the joke I had attempted to make. It was endless, I was a year in and had only sent 100 tweets.

After awhile, and some pushing from professors I started caring less about how frequently I was putting out content, and more about the quality of the content.

One of the most important things to find is your niche. What do you like to do? What are you good at? I just realized mine is Dating/Career (topic wise). It may seem like these two don’t go together, but they have more in common then you would think.

The next stop is to start connecting with people who are bigwigs in your area(s) of expertise (or at least the areas you want to be a leader in). You can do this by googling who is influential. For me it would be googling top 100 influential career blogs, and then finding the founders on LinkedIn and BeKnown.

Once you find the people you want to connect with it is important to send a personal message about why you would like to network with them. Keep it short and sweet: ” Hi, my name is Courtney and I’m interested in learning about career coaching. I would love to chat about how you got into the business if you have any free time.”  Short and to the point, a lot of professionals aren’t going to have time to read some long-winded message about how much you idolize them. And please don’t feel offended if you don’t get a response back, just move on to the next one.

The point of networks like BeKnown, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google + is to magnify ones ability to network. So instead of sticking with your inner circle, why not take a leap out of it and find people who will help you get ahead? Just a suggestion.

Finding a job is like..

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So to say I’ve been on a few first dates this past year is a major understatement. I think I have now logged almost 20 first dates since September..clearly I’m doing something right.  I decided back in September that I was going to start searching for Mr. Right..we all know how impossible it is to find him. Like finding your dream job it takes years of interviews, long hours and finding people who support you.

So far, the net I’ve cast out into the world-wide web has come back pretty empty. Between trying to update my blog more consistently than Whitney takes hits of crack and finding something that pays my bills, I don’t always have the time to thoroughly interview potential prospects. So some may slip through the online interview process and wind up in a coffee shop sitting across from me.

Sometimes this is a good thing, because it forces me to date outside my comfort zone (6′+, brown hair, blue eyes, social media nut, and hockey player). Other times I wind up sitting across from someone who is 5’4″ (though they claimed to be 5’7″) who regales me with stories of how his dog ate a skunk then pooped it out whole.

Needless to say my job hunt has been going about the same, just with less poop stories.

The whole job hunting process is similar to the dating world, don’t believe me? Well maybe you haven’t been out of work recently, or single for that matter. It usually starts online, searching through countless ads, writing cover letters until you get carpal tunnel, attempting to be witty yet still professional, and maybe even flirt a bit if it’s a guy (it’s not like you’re sending a picture of you in a low-cut shirt ..okay that was one time but it was for a specific job..maybe twice).

So you send out at least 5 cover letters every time you log onto a professional networking site, or job search site. Maybe, depending on what a hot commodity you are, you get 1 email back for every 5 you send out. (this is the only difference with online dating vs online job hunting..if you’re a girl you’re more like the employer.)  Then finally, one day, after countless emails back and forth you get the coveted initial interview. You dress in your sunday best, wear your glasses so you look smarter and bring an ample supply of writing samples and resumes.

You charm the hell out of them, making them laugh, making sure to laugh at their jokes, finding common ground, hoping that they ask you to come in for a second interview.

You wait, three days pass so you stop planning your future together and start eating the pint of Ben and Jerry’s sitting in your freezer.

But no matter how many more episodes of The Bachelorette and Apprentice you watch you try not to give up hope. And 5 hours later you’re back at it again, still searching for the right fit where everything will align and not only will you get that second interview, you’ll go all the way to home base.

Who wouldn’t want to Beknown?

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So Monday I started a new job as a Community manager for Monster.com‘s new Facebook App Beknown.  I was really excited to start working on this project (one of my main reasons being that we would get to work with Ryan Paugh ..and he had worked with Penelope Trunk..so technically it would be like I worked with Penelope Trunk (who is my writing idol). I mean it makes sense when you think that if you kiss someone it’s like you have kissed everyone they kissed..right?)

Although the prospect of working in close proximity to one of my favorite writers was thrilling, I was a little hesitant to take the job. I’m always terrified that I’m going to set myself up for disaster when social media gets involved, not to mention I am horrible at recruiting friends to do things (probably something I shouldn’t mention on a public forum..but oh well). Instead I sucked it up, because I’d rather “beknown” for trying something than giving up before even getting my foot in the door.

This is a screen shot of my home page on beknown, figured I should throw it in

In today’s job market it’s important to make a name for yourself, actually put yourself out there. Not only are we always searching for jobs, but head hunters/recruiters are searching for people to fill jobs. It’s always been like this, but we didn’t always have the social media tools to showcase ourselves in a bright flashing light that says “hire me god dammit!” Well maybe not just like that.

App’s like Beknown have taken this flashing bright light to the next level. They have made it so even the least social media savvy person can have a chance  to”beknown” by employers, the best part being they give this to them on a network they already know and love (could you ask for anything more?) .

I’m on day 7 of using this app. and although no job has popped out at me, I have already made some great connections. Which in all honesty is why I join sites like beknown and LinkedIn, to make that connection with someone who could eventually know someone looking to hire an extremely talented writer/editor/ex-PR wannabe, and that is when my awkward little big face will pop into their head, then I’ll get hired. Well at least this is the hope.

Hopefully my ramblings hasn’t gotten you too lost yet. Basically, what I am saying here, it’s better to beknown on the internet than hide in some  private area pretending it doesn’t exist. Yes, the internet is a scary place to put your information on. But it’s worth it, online you can make more connections in one hour than an entire week in person. Connections that can help with a career change, friendly advice on moving, or a stepping stone to getting your dream job.

I’m not opposed to Facebook Apps (just check out my farm), so joining beknown wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Free job searches, free connecting, plus you can create a competition between friends to see who can own the most badges..let’s be real I’m already hooked. I’m not saying that this is for everyone, there are a lot of people who just think job search sites are a waste of their time (which is fine, and if they have a better way I would love it if they could let me know ASAP). But regardless, I do think everyone should at least try it, give it a whirl. Test it out and see what this baby can do. I mean, really, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You land a great job? Make new friends? ..I know horrible, tragic, things.

So, check it out…and you should absolutely connect with me (I’m only in the 20′s for connections..gotta beat out the other community managers! –good thing I use my sports competition logic for Facebook App..)