I heard Tubby Smith, the University of Minnesota’s head basketball coach, tell a story about his upbringing which included his parents’ advice: “It does not cost anything to be polite”.
That’s a saying you should take to heart when networking for a new job.
Here’s my rule: Besides feeling good about yourself – in networking you never know who knows who – so just be polite to everyone.
This is not to say you’ll be tempted. I experienced people who were pretty rude, to which I simply closed down the meeting quickly and moved on. For the really bad ones, I cursed when I got into the car (windows rolled up, of course).
I know this seems like a basic topic and most people take their behavior for granted. However, I hear a 'horror story' every week about how bad a candidate was in their networking: showing up late, cutting answers short, being quick as a whip to dismiss ideas, etc.
Many times the behavior can be chalked up to cramming too much in a day and being eager to get their story out.
But I still hear the stories and if I hear about it - assume that dozens other have heard it as well.
The punchline: Do yourself a favor and just pay attention at a few meetings to make sure you are good to go.
Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268
http://TwitJobs.net
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It Does Not Cost Anything to be Polite
Friday 29 January 2010Job Services On Twitter
Sunday 24 January 2010Since TwitJobs launched in March of 2009 there have been a lot of other job services on Twitter that have launched. Theres some real smart technology out there, and the platform has allowed many services to offer some fantastic services.
I wanted to just bullet point a few key points that separates us from the others.
TwitJobs Is The Only Cross Platform Social Media Solution.
What does this mean? - Well, we post across 9 social networks simultaneously, including twitter, facebook, friendfeed, bebo, posterous, plurk, tumblr, and linkedin.
TwitJobs Uses Real People.
We actually have a small team of people managing each profile we post to. Whats the point of social media if its all about automated feeds and RSS? Well, we believe social media is always going to be about human to human communication through different social media platforms, so thats what we do!
TwitJobs Advertising Fees Make Us Affordable.
Cost is an important part of advertising jobs online. Our costs are designed to appeal to large corporations like Google, Apple, Sony, IBM, Microsoft etc - as well as the start up community, and smaller organisations that need amazing talented people.
TwitJobs Has More Jobs, More Opportunities.
Our database has 1000's of jobs in many different industries, not just online roles but engineering, customer service, retail, armed forces and many, many more. We also include roles that are flexible, freelance, temp, contract and work from home.
We Understand Social Media.
The founders of the business have been helping businesses get involved in social media for many years. Having this knowledge and backbone to our business makes us understand fully the space we operate in and the services we can provide for users and advertisers.
Our International Reach Is More Than Just Reach.
Posting jobs in 11 different countries and 5 different languages has its own challenges, thats why we've teamed up with people that understand the market in your local area. Jobs for you, answers that are important to your community and specialized support.
More Subscribers Per Profile Than Anyone.
Its all well and good to have 1000's of social media profiles across different platforms, but unless you have a voice, you're only using 1/8 of the power of social media. Our profiles have more subscribers than any other job site involved in social media, in the World! - This means, more RT's, more sharing and more interaction than anyone else.
Not Just Numbers - Results.
December 2009 TwitJobs hosted over 140,000 job applications through its network. Thats one application for a new job opportunity through someone using TwitJobs every 20 seconds. Its important to us to provide fantastic value to our advertisers and that they are not wasting their money.
Continuing Innovation.
TwitJobs was the first job site in the world to offer a job application page directly on our Facebook page. This means people can apply directly for jobs advertised on TwitJobs, without even leaving Facebook - the worlds largest social network, with over 350 million monthly users (as of Jan 2010). We were also one of the first organisations to have developer access to Google Wave back in May 2009. We continue to innovate and explore new ways to help people find work.
We Check Job Postings.
We dont allow job postings for dodgy work from home/mlm/create a home business opportunity unless we are 100% happy that it is a genuine job/career opportunity. Our subscribers would soon tell us if something didn't seem right - so we check everything that goes out and make sure its 100% genuine.
Imitation, it's said, is the highest form of flattery. TwitJobs continues to provide a extra special service and user experience in 2010. We have lots more innovations that we are excited about rolling out this year, including many more free tools to help people make the most of their job application.
What would you like to see more of from TwitJobs? Let us know here, or just tell us on any one of our social media platforms. You can be assured we are listening just as much as we are helping. Alternatively, you can always drop us an email at jobs (at) TwitJobs (dot) net
Jason.
http://TwitJobs.net
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Do One Thing Incredibly Well
Saturday 23 January 2010Theres certainly a temptation or has been over the past few months to suddenly become an expert in everything!
Thats certainly the case in the online world today.
The amount of people iv'e come across personally who are experts in PPC, SEO, Social Media, Communication, Digital Marketing, Interaction Specialists, Engagement Masters etc etc
On their twitter profiles they list all these areas of expertise, or ask us via a social network we cover for a job covering all of these specialties. Training, learning and personal professional development I think are core drivers that you have to be constantly looking at in 'the digital world' today. But sticking to the one thing you have the most expertise in, experiences, successes, learns whatever it is that you feel most passionately about - that needs to remain your core skill set.
Its the same for brands. It's OK with things like coke - then we've got diet coke, vanilla coke, cherry coke etc - thats alright. But so many companies fail by trying to do so many different things. Taking their brand to new places to dip their toe into new markets, risk a whole bunch of resources and time and lose, big time.
Think about your ideal job title, your perfect role and then what that is actually going to include in the day to day activity. Is this really what you love? What you believe passionately about and what you can excel in? - If it is, then interview successes have to be more of a formality rather than a popularity competition.
Passion, desire, belief - these are things that will or won't come across in an interview. No matter how good you are at going to a job interview for a stop gap job. These are sometimes things we have all had to do in our life at some point. But if you can find the job that you are clearly the obvious first choice, why would you spend time applying for anything else?
For that one job, you will have the passion, desire and commitment to write a superb cover letter, customize your CV specifically for the role and that will come across in volume to the hiring manager.
Iv'e spent a long time working in the online space - and my passion is social media. I live it, breath it 24/7 - 365 days a year - ask anyone that knows me! - But other areas we are working in, i'm learning - and whats more important I'm keen to learn more so that TwitJobs can continue to provide a fantastic service for its 100,000's of users searching for jobs with us every month.
Be open to new opportunities - but focus on your core passion...after all, we spend a lot of time at work, i'm lucky - I do something I love.
Jason
You can search 100's of jobs in your local area (by keywords and location) just by going to http://TwitJobs.net - think about YOUR perfect job, and let us help you find a job you love.
http://TwitJobs.net
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Get An Introduction to Improve Your Odds
Friday 22 January 2010You have your immediate network, so to get started, you should ask them to make your initial introductions. Those introductions lead to more introductions which will lead to opening doors critical to putting the odds in your favor.
The introduction not only can get you a chance to network, but it can also lower the barriers to getting help or give the person you are meeting more insight on why they should meet you.
Job search is not always fair. The best candidate does not always get the job. In fact, their resume may not even get reviewed. Why? They did not get a chance to tell their story.
So get an introduction to networking contacts to help you get in the door. In this busy market, it's even more important.
Good luck today!
Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268
http://TwitJobs.net
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Checking Your Referrals
Monday 18 January 2010This is a lesson in protecting your reputation. Before you meet with someone – see what you can learn about their business dealings.
In this environment, you want to take every referral possible. But it is important to make sure that referral will bring you closer to a decision maker.
I was able to meet with Clyde (Surprise! Not their real name). He was very gracious, professional and extremely well connected. Our meeting resulted in sixteen network contacts. Wow! That is a candidate’s dream – a week’s worth of networking in a single meeting.
Being so stoked about the meeting, I told my colleagues. Then a good friend said “I’d be careful tying your name to Clyde’s. His business reputation is very mixed”. In time, I found this was very true, nothing unethical, but let’s just say he took care of himself.
Thank heaven my friend said something, as I’ve networked with people who prefer to not deal with Clyde. Bullet dodged, lesson learned.
I did follow-up on Clyde’s contacts, but I was certain to establish my relationship with him as one of networking for a new role. I inserted this point in the opening sentence in my networking e-mail. (For a template on networking e-mails, please look under "Tools" at www.candidateschair.com).
Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268
http://TwitJobs.net
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Confessions of a Rotten Networker
Wednesday 13 January 2010When I worked, I did not make networking a priority in my calendar. Sure I did some, but I mainly filled my day with everything else. My help to individuals in transition was even less.
Having been in transition, now my approach to networking has forever changed, but it was after, not before.
As you reach out, you’ll find loads of people like I was: Never through transition, low value on networking, etc.
These folks can still help you, but you need to be persistent and guide them on how they can help you.
To help avoid frustration and help them to get your contact to follow-up on your meeting, it all starts with the preparation.
The link below is a networking checklist I created during my transition. I did mine in a notebook, but tough to share via a blog.
http://candidateschair.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/networking-meeting-checklist.pdf
My notebook was valuable because it allowed me to get more efficient as it helped me see what I did previously.
Remember that when people agree to meet with you, they are also agreeing to help you. So help them to help you.
Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.comJob Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268
http://TwitJobs.net
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5 Golden Rules For Twitter
Sunday 10 January 2010If you're a celebrity, a business owner, looking for a job, or simply looking to expand your social circle, Twitter can be the ultimate self-promotion tool, as long as you know how to use it.
As far as I’m concerned, there are only three things you have to remember...- Conversation
- Conversation
- Conversation
1. Converse, Don’t Preach
Think about this. If you want people to like you, and recommend you, they have to have a reason. You have to make yourself valuable to them. So how do you do that?
By doing everything you want other people to do for you. Post interesting/informative links, retweet often (but not too often, you don’t want to be known as an “excessive retweeter”). When you get new followers, thank them personally. When someone replies to you or sends you a direct message, make sure you respond. It’s called being polite, and it works just as well online as it does in the real world.
Just tweeting your own promo and/or links is the fast way to get a bad reputation in social media. Don’t do it.
More specifically, don’t have arguments. Light disagreement and jesting is (usually) fine, it’s all part of life. But starting a large disagreement or a flame war (trading insults) is not big, not clever, and definitely not wise. If you have to disagree, do it politely. Get your point across, and leave it. It doesn’t look good for any of the protagonists to be slagging each other off in public.
3. Be Social, Be Respectful
Being social on the web is about conversation, but you also have to make use of the things that are there. If you’re talking about a topic, and there’s a hashtag for it, use it. Participate in things like FollowFriday by recommending your favourite tweeters (twitter users). Post links to services or websites you find useful, and check out those services that are recommended to you. And whatever you do, avoid auto-follow services like you would the plague. It’s all about being real.
Respect for others is a key part of social media. You may not agree with them, but that doesn’t matter. We’re all human and entitled to our opinions. You’ll also find that race and disability are never an issue on social media. Don’t be the one to break that unwritten rule. If you do, I can guarantee everyone who ignored the “Don’t Argue” rule above will be onto you!
4. Don’t Be Afraid
One of the hardest things to come to terms with when you start using Twitter (and all forms of social media) for the first time is the idea that almost everything is good. Don’t worry about promoting your competition, or retweeting something that may, in the end, turn out to be not what you thought it was.
The chances are it won’t, and most people understand you can’t vet everything. And far as your competition is concerned, the “pay it forward” principle applies here. Be friendly and helpful to them, and they will return the favour. If they don’t, it’s their loss, and you will come out looking better in the long run, because you were the one being helpful rather than just promoting yourself.
5. Use a Twitter Application
Using Twitter is so much better when you use a 3rd part application for your tweeting, rather than just using the website. There are many applications (Twhirl, Seesmic, etc), but my personal favourite is TweetDeck. It’s available not only for Mac, Windows and Linux, but also for the iPhone, giving a seamless interface no matter which platform you’re using.
Most Twitter applications are (like Twitter itself) completely free, and they make my golden rules so much easier to follow.
Final Thoughts
Just one last thing... if you find yourself in a foul mood, wanting to argue with lots people and just plain grumpy... walk away. Your followers will still be there tomorrow, just so long as you don’t annoy them today!
Good luck, and enjoy being social!
Dan
This is a guest post from Dan Nash, disabled entrepreneur and social media maven. You can find out more at www.DanNash.net. You can also follow me on Twitter.
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’)Blog Updates
Friday 8 January 20102010 will see some big changes to our blog - we're adding some great guest posters that will start contributing in January 2010.
We can't talk too much about the topics that will be covered - but they are very exciting. Also, you will have definitely heard of some of the people who will be involved!
We are however, still always interested in hearing from you if you are interested in contributing to our blog. Our blog is still quite new, but already getting some serious attention, and why wouldn't it? - When new blogs are posted we tell everyone about it!
So if you are interested in blogging for us, send us an email with some examples of your previous posts and what type of content you would be interested in posting and we'll get back to you.
A lot to look forward to at TwitJobs in 2010 - and our new blog is just one part of many new innovative updates we are working on to constantly make TwitJobs better.
Send emails to jobs@TwitJobs.net - we're waiting to hear from you.
Jason.
http://TwitJobs.net
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How Innovative Do You Actually Need To Be?
Tuesday 5 January 2010How Innovative Do You Actually Need To Be?
An interesting thought and one I wanted to elaborate on in more detail - Something we are often thought of as a job site, is innovative. People I meet and network with online are always saying, wow, this is a really cool idea, how innovative. But is innovation really what is needed? Or is it something that came out of a hard hitting recession in 2009 where everyone was trying anything to do something differently?
Its a very interesting topic of discussion.
On the one side, I had never planned to start a job board. Prior to March 2009, I was consulting businesses and helping them gain traction in social media and the entire digital space through ppc, seo and targeted social media campaigns. I really wanted to do more to help people, and raise my own profile as a result driven social media consultant. This was at a time early last year, when there was the first big buzz around twitter (when stephen fry had 100,000 followers!).
Having put together the idea of TwitJobs and then started talking to a few 'media' recruitment agencies in and around London - they weren't exactly inspiring in their knowledge of the digital landscape. I think many have just been doing what they do, and kind of see everything else as a side distraction to their business. This is a shame. Especially when they brand themselves as media experts to their clients. The cynical side of me thinks they sit in a boardroom and reel off the buzz words of the week hoping that some of it sticks in the minds and makes their client feel comfortable in the knowledge they are dealing with 'similar' people.
2009 saw more job boards close than open. Literally 1000s of job sites and recruiting businesses shut down and stopped trading. Perhaps the wrong time to start a new job site? Well, I never really thought of it that way. I had an idea and really thought by using social media platforms we could communicate more effectively with a targeted audience. It's a no-brainer, right?
The innovation is clearly with the platforms we are using - all we have done is create the springboard to work from - and my, has it sprung!
It is a shame how recruitment agencies and hiring managers have dabbled in this arena, with a twitter account, or a facebook fan page, that they have invited their existing network to and not thought to do anything else with it. If you are going to communicate with the same people on Facebook as you do already on Twitter, isn't that just an opportunity for those people to stop following you/lose interest in your messages?
Get back to basics. Think of social media as it is in its very raw and plain form. A communication tool. This is nothing new - social media could be skype, chatrooms, email (to some degree) - basically a digital online communication method. If you are using email, you should be using Twitter, not for the same purposes exactly, but to compliment each other.
How did we get so many followers/friends? We just talked to people. No fancy 6 month strategy. No money spent on advertising or marketing, just talking to people.
Even when our site first launched and we had no jobs - we just talked to people. Told them what we were hoping to create, asking them to RT if they could and that we were 'coming soon'. Weeks later we have 100's of jobs on our site and 1000's of people following us. Months later and we approach 100,000 followers and 1000's of jobs on our site, its a good time to look back and be pleased with what a difference we have made.
In December 2009, over 140,000 people worldwide applied for a job using TwitJobs. This is 9 months from having no jobs at all, and hardly any followers. Our advice to people thinking about being innovative - go out and do it - the industry you are thinking about being innovative in, probably will find it hard to adjust - but if you can make your offering so attractive, that they cannot ignore it, they will come to you.
That's what we find more and more - the businesses that were not sure if social media was for them in the early days, have had to start using it. Not just because of the fact their competitors are using it, but because they need to reach the best possible, forward thinking people that are tuning into Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, Linkedin, or their preferred social network of choice. Why would you not want your service to reach those people?
Be innovative - Be different, and don't be scared - the changes you make to the industry you work in could be the ones that change the sector for ever.
That's exactly what we have done!
Jason Barrett
http://TwitJobs.net
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3 Planning items for 2010 – and tools to help with the plan
Before you hit networking for a job hard this year, here are three areas to review your job search plan. The goal of this planning is to manage your most precious resource: time.
For each area listed below, there is a tool on the Candidates Chair site that can help you get this planning jump-started.
ONE: Planning Your Week
Each week should contain time for networking, business development (getting more networking meetings/interviews), networking preparation and follow-up. A common trap is to dedicate too much to networking. The preparation and follow-up are the keys to getting something out of the networking meeting.
To maintain a strong psyche, you need to keep to 35-40 hours a week. After this, your productivity and effectiveness simply declines (trust me on this one – I have experienced it firsthand).
Tool: Organizing Your Search Week
TWO: Planning Your Networking Meeting
You own the networking meeting from start to finish. When someone agrees to network with you, they are also agreeing (in principle) to help you. A well-run networking meeting is critical to getting them to actually follow-up.
There are three critical elements in a meeting: Identify what commitment you seek (e.g. make connections, offer insight to company), creating a true atmosphere of networking (what you can offer them) and time management.
Consider the practices of a Rainmaker, they need ‘wing it’ when it comes to sales pitch. This is your sales pitch – so prepare and plan well.
Tool: Anatomy of a Networking Meeting
THREE: Plan Who You Should Meet
One of my biggest mistakes was considering all networking meetings had equal value. I simply took too many meetings that offered me more connections, but not progress toward a hiring manager.
Later in my search, I began to use a simple point system to help manage who I asked to meet and allocation of my time. While this may sound counter to all advice, just because you can network with someone does not mean you should – unless they can move you closer to your goal. So look at what they can offer.
Tool: Daily Point System for Job Search
I hope this help you in 2010. I also wish each of you an excellent New Year. Please visit my prior posts, site and LinkedIn group for other thoughts on networking and search from a candidate’s perspective.
Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group:http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268
http://TwitJobs.net
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Is 2010 The Year Mobile Makes An Impact In Social Media?
Monday 4 January 2010Morgan Stanley has released the latest Mobile Internet Report studying innovations in technology.
If you have a spare few hours, you can read the full 400+ page report, or browse through the presentation slides.
Mobile internet is not a fad and the recruitment industry needs to sit up and start to look at this powerful platform being used in more detail. Earlier in 2009 at Digital Britain, I was amazed at just how many people didn't realise that Twitter could be used on a mobile device (as simply as sms), let alone all the applications like Tweetie and now Tweetdeck that have been rolled out (and continue to roll out) since then.
Most of the companies you come across in the UK and USA today are being run day-to-day recruitment are desktop based which requires costly overheads and resources. Recruitment systems, job boards and career websites need to upgrade their current technology and become mobile optimised to take full advantage of this growing medium. Often sites, are just unaware of the growing popularity of mobile, due to the enhancements of mobile devices over the past 18 months. Luckily - as TwitJobs is optimised for mobile, and our 'outward facing' content is delivered through social media communication platforms, it means for many months now, people have been able to apply for jobs using their mobile devices and TwitJobs together.
In fact, the first person ever to get a job using our service was actually on a bus to the job centre (or unemployment office) in London - they were able to apply via their iphone, get a call back and then attend the interview without even being on a netbook or desktop computer. When you stop to think about that, it becomes an area that more and more job boards are not ready, or not even close to being ready for.
Innovation in technology – and the creation (and destruction) of wealth in its wake – follows a pattern. As each new computing cycle unfolds, roughly once a decade, the number of devices and users rises by a factor of ten. From mainframe to minicomputer, PC, desktop Internet, and now the mobile Internet, more and more people benefited from faster processing power, better user interfaces, smaller form factors, lower prices, and expanded services.
The key points to take away from the report are...
- Material wealth creation / destruction should surpass earlier computing cycles.
- The mobile Internet is ramping faster than desktop Internet did.
- Five IP-based products / services are growing / converging
- Apple + Facebook platforms serving to raise the bar
- Decade-plus Internet usage / monetization ramps.
- Massive mobile data growth
- Emerging markets have material potential for mobile
http://TwitJobs.net
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Traffic BOOM!
Saturday 2 January 2010December 2009 (we were told) is by far the quietest month for job sites of the world. But for us it was our biggest month ever.
Not only was it the month when TwitJobs cemented a almost permanent place in Twitters trending topics (appearing a number of times, and even beating the XFactor Grand Final in the UK at one point) but we also had the most amount of applications and visits to jobs we post - working out to 140,000 applications to the postings we submit through various online social media platforms. On top of this we also had more site visits, more new followers and friends connecting with our Linkedin profile, Friendfeed, Posterous, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
More evidence of just how powerful social media is as a tool for businesses looking to expand their business and explore new ways of finding the most talented individuals.
What does this mean for the future? Well, some say SEO is dead, and that optimisation through social media is the new way to go. But for people like me that have been in this space for a while - just take a look at the mid 90's (and still today) when recording artists promoted their myspace profiles - there are many stories of how these guys got signed and went on to massive recording contracts (Lilly Allen for one).
This works exactly the same when you are looking for work too. Remember when applying for jobs and including links to your social media platforms for hiring managers and potential new employers to visit - this is your life. People will be judging the content you post and share with your friends and followers - this content can be viewed in many ways from an employers perspective, but when you are posting, think about the implications that your post could have.
Be yourself, be informative, be true and have fun with what you post. If like me, your hobby is your job and you truly love what you do, it will come across in your communications with the world. Thats the most important thing - enjoying what you do.
Well, we are all very excited coming out of December with such positive stats and massive growth into 2010 its hard not to keep talking about it!
Again, all the very best to you and your families for 2010 and beyond at TwitJobs - we will be here to help, guide and try to make a positive impact on your (or your friends lives) through our dedication and commitment to making TwitJobs even better throughout 2010 and beyond. Thanks for being their with us, and hope you continue to enjoy the ride!
Jason.
Jason@TwitJobs.net
http://TwitJobs.net
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