LinkedIn and the Permanent Campaign

As I like to say, being visible is critical; they can't hire you if they don't know you exist!  And they're not going to care about you if they don't know how you can help them!

Here's Lisa CHAU, in her June 11, 2012 article in www.usnews.com:

In a rather extreme example, Dorie Clark warns in It's Not a Job Search, It's a Permanent Campaign, published by Harvard Business Review:

"If you're invisible, you're probably a fraud. Resumes and even clever cover letters will become increasingly meaningless when employers are looking not for words, but for demonstrated knowledge and results. If you've got a strong online personal brand, you're in. And if you don't? One firm I consulted for almost didn't hire a qualified senior executive because—lacking almost any online presence—they strongly suspected he had fabricated his background. He hadn't, but the elaborate process of verifying his story nearly cost him the job."

 In Forbes, Josh Bersin reports in LinkedIn's Growth Continues: Fueling the Corporate Talent Machine that LinkedIn's "hiring solutions" business accounts for $102.6 million or 54 percent of company revenue, which were up 101 percent this quarter. In the corporate recruiting market, LinkedIn's revenues overshadow those of its rivals: SuccessFactors, which SAP just acquired for $3.4 billion; Taleo, which Oracle just acquired for $1.9 Billion; and Kenexa.

LinkedIn has become the new standard in corporate recruiting, and in this economy it's a buyer's market. Social media usage will continue to integrate itself into personal and professional lives. Rather than avoid it, we must adapt to it.  (My emphasis.)

Who you are professionally, what you've done, how you've contributed to the success of current and past employers and clients, all make you compellingly attractive to potential employers and clients.  You need to be visible, to be seen and heard, and then set yourself apart from your competition to let your specific world know what you can do for them!

What do your customers, clients and/or employers value most about your skills, talents and services?  Those whom you've assisted professionally can become your marketers, your references, your fan club, when you post their evaluations of your work on LinkedIn.  

Is your knowledge of your field, industry or profession up-to-the-minute?  Demonstrate just how sharp you are by posting updates on your home page, joining in professional discussions in your groups, and answering questions related to your industry.

Become a known quantity, a "thought leader," a pundit, a specialist, an expert, an authority.  And be visible, so that customers, clients and employers can beat a path to your door!

WHY IS COMMON SENSE SO UNCOMMON?  THE JOB SEARCH IS SALES!!!

I mean, it's downright rare.  Is it that people are too self-absorbed to realize what works, and what doesn't, and why?  I'm referring here specifically to the idea that the entire job search, from the very beginning until you plant your fanny in the chair at your new job, is SALES.  Just SALES.  Nothing but SALES.

Think about it.  When you're looking for a job, you're hoping that someone is going to give you money.  For what?  For doing something...for them.  Would you give money to someone -- I'm not talking about charities, now -- and expect nothing in return?  I sincerely doubt it.  You'd expect something for your money.  Why, then, do so many people just entering the job market simply assume that the job search is all about the them, job seeker?  It's most definitely NOT.  It's about the potential employer, the ones who are paying the salary...it's about THEM and THEIR NEEDS, not you or your needs.

They're the ones with the money.  They're the ones who, if you're offered and accept the position, will be paid by them.  For what?  For doing what they hired you to do.  What could be simpler?  Yet time after time, I speak to intelligent and articulate people who think that all they need to do to get a job is respond to a posting, send in a (frequently poorly-written) resume, and assume that the recruiter will be rushing to call them in for an interview.

Let's talk about SALES.  Really excellent salespeople know their products and services cold.  There isn't a question that they can't field.  There's a real art to sales, and it consists, if you're the salesperson, of 1) you understanding what the buyer wants/needs; 2) knowing what you have that satisfies the buyer's wants/needs; and 3) being able to illustrate how you have provided previous buyers with those same solutions to their wants/needs, so that you can prove to the current buyer can see how you can help him...because if you've done it successfully before, you can do it just as successfully (if not more successfully) again.

Simple, yes?   Then why do so many people not realize what the relationship is between job seeker and company, employee and employer? As the saying goes, this is not rocket science!!

If you're starting out in your career, be certain to:

• Know what your strengths are.  These are the benefits that you are "selling" to potential employers.
• Learn what your strengths are by examining your past accomplishments.  Whether they're school-related, internship-related, job-related, or having to do with some personal situation in your past that you were able to work out successfully, what you're proudest of having achieved contains clear examples of your strengths.   Did you teach yourself to ride a bike when you were 10, to avoid the ridicule of having to ride around on a bike with training wheels?  What did you do?  How did you teach yourself?  How long did it take?  These things demonstrate your problem solving skills, your creativity, your strategic abilities, your perseverance, your determination.  Your STRENGTHS.
• Identify at least 4 school, internship or work-related accomplishments, each of which should clearly illustrate a different strength.  Readers and listeners don't remember unadorned statements; they DO remember STORIES, which is what your accomplishments are.  These will appear on your resume, and you will be speaking about them on your interviews.  KNOW THEM COLD...when, where, why, how, how much, who and what were involved and, most importantly, WHAT WAS THE RESULT?

In the job search, you're the salesperson who's selling YOU.  Get ready now for the future search...because it's not a question of whether you'll someday be in the job search...it's a matter of how SOON it will be!!

Paula Cohen, Career Charisma

careercharisma@gmail.com

Shangri-La in Brooklyn

I'm reading a lot, these last couple of days, about employee happiness and fulfillment, and how so many companies miss the boat when it comes to engaging their best and brightest people. And as someone who's been in the corporate world for a few decades now, I can wholeheartedly vouch for the truth of that.

I also spend a good deal of time, nowadays, explaining that people should 1) determine what it is that they love to do so much that they'd do it for nothing, and 2) find out what they do so well that employers will pay them well to do it...and then go out and get a job that provides both...because if you're being paid to do what you love so much that you'd do it for nothing, you're not "going to work" each day, you're "going to play!"

Does that make a difference? The single best company I ever worked for, in terms of how they treated their staff, and the loyalty and enthusiasm that the staff gave back, was a very small -- perhaps 500 employees? -- savings bank in Brooklyn, NY. Being in Human Resources back then, I would conduct the orientation sessions for new employees each Monday. And the first thing I would do would be to congratulate the staffers on having joined the bank...because "we're a special place. We only hire the best. And if you're here today, it's because we recognized that you are special, and we're very pleased that you're here with us today!"

This, by the way, was no lie. I had been told the same thing when I was hired, and it had been proven to me every day that I worked there, so that it was easy for me to be utterly truthful, and tell newly hired staff what I had experienced myself. Quality performance was recognized and rewarded. Good ideas were encouraged, implemented and rewarded. Staff members felt valued and energized. The result? Loyalty, enthusiasm, drive, integrity and a vast amount of superlative work...and a great deal of enjoyment, at the same time

My own supervisor said it best. "You can work hard, or you can work hard and have fun," he said. "I'd rather work hard and have fun!" And we did both.

One of the most memorable things was the fairness with which employees were treated. There were no arbitrary -- read willfully stupid -- decisions made by senior management, and the culture was one of respect: respect between employees, between employees and management, and between employees, management and customers. Why? Call it enlightened self-interest. It was in our interest to ensure that the bank was well run, and that customers were treated with unfailing courtesy and patience...because the customers could take their money anywhere, and what made them keep it with us, and keep us successful, was the outstanding treatment they received.

In short, I "went to play" every day. I wish I could say the same for even some of the other companies I've worked for over the years. In most, however, staff were treated like mushrooms...kept in the dark and buried in s**t, as the saying goes. That one, lone little bank was the only organization I ever worked for that functioned in this caring, enlightened way. Why? I don't know, other than to observe that there are a great many incredibly stupid people out there, and lots of them even run huge, multinational companies.

But if companies want to be successful, and function smoothly and well, and particularly if they're management consulting firms that are supposed to teach other companies how to treat their employees, they just might want to consider treating their own employees as true human resources...isn't that what employees are supposed to be? Why else was the term invented?