Archive for July, 2010

Joni Doolin from People Report, Next On Compassionate HR

When you think of a love bomb what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? For those who’ve been recipients of a love bomb from the community, It Starts With Us, it can mean hundreds of comments on one’s blog, and an outpouring of affection from an onine community. Who receives love bombs? Tune it to Compassionate HR Monday at 7:30 eastern-4:30 p.m. pacific and find out. My guests will be Nate St. Pierre, founder of It Starts With Us, and Joni Doolin, from People Report.

It Starts With Us has one simple goal: to change the world by making a positive impact in the lives of the people around us. Nate’s linkedin profile says it all: St. Pierre makes it easy for large organizations to mobilize their community around the concept of micro-giving . . . spending 15 minutes a week working together on an easy task with their group. With thousands of people each giving just a little bit in a directed manner, huge things are possible. Lives are touched, and the world is changed .” He helps large organizations mobilize their members to make a difference in the lives of those around them utilizing the concept of microgiving.

Nate St. Pierre: It Starts With Us

Joni Doolin is the President and CEO of People Report. She describes herself as “an architect of the collaboration of a handful of companies and their leaders, that has grown into the People Report consortium. Today the business includes hundreds of companies, and touches the lives of millions of employees.”

This concept touches my heart, and that’s what Compassionate HR is all about, digging deep into crevices of our souls, finding the goodness therein, and dishing it out in tangible ways in order to manifest kindness, and social action in the lives around us. I seek out extraordinary people doing incredible things in the world around them. Trust me, you will love learning more about what Nate & Joni are doing to make the world around them a beautiful place to be. Our listener call in number is 347-426-3215. We look forward to hearing from you.

My readers know I choose theme songs for each of my posts. Since this show depicts the spiritual essence of service learning, steward leadership, and reinventing a better world, I give you John Lennon. Imagine! This gorgeous video, compliments of youtube has such lovely visuals, I wanted to share it with you.

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How to be found on twitter:  Marie Journey’s guest post.  Marie is one of the most popular and skilled candidate sourcers in the industry.  Watch this video, and you will hear her story about her own personal journey.  Marie also teaches you how to strengthen your digital footprint.  Like me, she was in transition in 2009, and rose above the recession to emerge victorious.

Unemployment is hard.  HireFriday can help.  In this community you will find people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help you, and you will also find strength in one another.  What’s beautiful about HireFriday is that you will never feel alone, or forgotten again.  We are here to help you.  As Marie suggests, read Chris’s post.   Chris offers a job aid for how to use tweetdeck and other twitter applications to filter in-or-out the information on twitter that you may want to follow.  In addition, I’d like you to read my “Guidelines for Hirefriday.” It is there I share how to best use this day for your job search.

#HireFriday Job Tips for 2010 by Marie Journey

1. Increase your digital footprint: Ways include being involved in highly visible groups, discussions, blog posts, tweets/retweets for your profession/niche/skill set.  Also, video! Video! Video! Why? Nothing brings you to the top of searches like video…so whip out a video resume, do a video conference, and add video responses to those online communities! Kay Kelison offers detailed insight regarding Video Resumes: HERE
2. Engage people that speak your language!  Good recruiters can recruit any person for any job…given enough time.  For example, I speak tech.  Meaning, I’m a technical recruiter and understand the language, skills, career path for those tech savvy folks.  If you are an accountant, then please focus in on recruiters that have the experience and understanding to do the best job for you in the quickest amount of time. *Stop spamming a person that doesn’t understand you and have a real conversation and connection with those that do*
3. Be clear and transmit your contact information.  No, don’t list your personal information all over the internet!  Do have a dedicated email for job searches.  Do have your profile on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks that people in your profession use.  Do check your inbox on a regular basis.  When you get pinged by a recruiter for an interview, do list the best method of reaching you and the time zone you will be in at that given moment.
4. If you follow me, then I can DM (Direct Message) you!  On Twitter follow recruiters or people that you would like to contact you directly. So follow @mariejourney.
5. Be a Talent Sandwich!  When networking for jobs let people that mentored you in the past know you are looking and the best information to forward to recruiters.  Also, people that you mentored in the past should be given the same.  Why?  They may get a ping from a recruiter asking: Have you mentored anybody in the past you could recommend OR Is there anybody that mentored you in the past that you would recommend?  Frankly, recruiters may not intentionally shoot high or low on experience and reach out to people that are not interested in the role that you would be. a
6. Do submit your resume as a Microsoft Word Document only and be sure to manually hide grammatical and spelling errors when you save the document.  Just because you click OK or ignore, does not mean that those red and green marks are gone on my end.  It differs per version, but just search Help for “Hide Errors”.  Why not PDF and avoid the hassle?  Tools for recruiting do not play well with PDF.  Want to know why?  Craig Fisher explains HERE
7. If Jim Stroud says it, then believe it.  He offers over two hours of actionable items on how to find a job.  Click HERE
8. Have Hope
9. Have Compassion

10.  Help others via #HireFriday

My readers know how much I love a theme song for each post.  Today’s theme song is “bullet proof,” because when you are out there in the job search I want you to feel invincible.

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What are the top 5 mistakes job seekers make when using Linkedin?

Mistakes, we all make them. What really counts is the correcting mistakes, and moving forward. As a job search strategist, and candidate advocate, it is my job to help job seekers put their best foot forward. Linkedin is one of the best places for job seekers to market themselves. Are you standing out as the go-to expert in your industry on linkedin? It’s Brand You. You are the brand, the human product of intellectual capital. You are the reason recruiters and hiring managers want to recruit you. The question becomes: How well are you managing your online brand. How well are you selling yourself? Are you on-message? Are you marketing yourself in a way that makes you stand out, or are you getting lost in the online clutter? What happens to your resume when it goes into a company’s applicant tracking system?

The problem is so many job seekers don’t know how to promote their brand on linkedin (and other online employment networks). Instead of “suggestions,” I’m prioritizing the top 5 mistakes job seekers make when using linkedin.

1. A picture says a thousand words.  If your picture is out of focus, or unprofessional, your profile won’t get a second look.
2. Job seekers leave out industry related key words. If your profile doesn’t include key words that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for, you will not be found.  Often, they use web crawlers, and search engines to do their bidding.  If your linkedin profiled is not search engine optimized, you will not be found.
3. Job seekers don’t participate in industry related groups. If you don’t ask and answer questions, you will not be acknowledged. The point is to position yourself as a thought leader, and an expert.  Participating in linkedin groups enable you to do just that.
4. Job seekers don’t personalize their linkedin contact invitations. Now, you must know that some people on linkedin think that’s downright unprofessional, or worse, creepy.  Always personalize your invitation to make contact.  Make sure you are polite, and show that person relevance, and the value of why you should share your network.
5. Job seekers don’t proof their profile.  It’s easy to get a friend, or colleague to review your profile.  If you haven’t done so, do it now.  If your profile isn’t well written that is a bad reflection on you, and your professionalism.  People want to hire people they like, and trust.  A flawless linkedin profile will either help you get an interview, or make you land in the circular file (trash can).  Don’t be a trash can statistic.  Polish your profile, and enlist  your friends to help you.

HireFriday is filled with people who want to help you. Tap into our resources, and remember tomorrow is HireFriday.  It’s your day to shine, because all of my volunteers will put you in the spot light.  I will personally RT your credentials to all of my contacts–but–if your profile is not credible, I won’t.  If you need help, feel free to email me, or dm one of our HireFriday community volunteers. Tomorrow from 12-1 p.m. est.Josh LeTourneau and I will lead another HireFriday Chat on twitter.  Just follow the stream, and ask your questions.

Your HireFriday Community Manager

HR Margo Rose

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HireFriday Boot Camp Workshops and Coaching Now Available by Margo Rose

Have you ever written a book? This is the first book I’ve written. I’m convinced it won’t be my last. One day, I want to write a book about my Father, Rolly Schwartz, the man who trained olympic champions. Rolly is in 7 halls of fame, has been honored, and met 2 American Presidents (Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter). Daddy was my hero. He was involved in Olympic Boxing for more than 50 years. He used to say, “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.” He trained Cassius Clay (when he was an amateur boxer). I’ll never forget when he’d come to our house to dinner (when he lived in Kentucky). I was just a child, but I thought I was looking up at superman. Dad trained the greatest boxers who’ve ever lived. Now I know where I get my spunk.

He inspired me to champion others. As the founder of HireFriday on twitter, facebook, and linkedin, that’s just what I do. Unemployment is hard. HireFriday can help. I created a job seeker stream, not a job stream which is what makes my community special. I take tremendous pride in extolling the virtues, talents, skill-sets, and strengths of the job seekers in the HireFriday community. I cut my eye teeth on outplacement back in the 90′s. I was a project career consultant for Right Management, an internationally recognized outplacement firm.

It was then I knew helping job seekers was, and is my path. When I tap into the deepest part of my soul, and ask myself, what do I care about professionally more than anything else? The answer is crystal clear. It is to help unemployed people accelerate their job search. This is the basis of my book. I have a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development. The Career Development element of my educational training was the favorite part of my studies. I knew then there was a book inside me trying to get out.  I used to be a corporate trainer, and outplacement consultant.  I started working for Right Management, a nationally recognized outplacement firm while I was still in graduate school.  I took to the work like a duck to water. Working with job seekers brought me so much joy.  This book is my labor of love.

The book begins with my own journey of career transition from organization development, to owning The Paw Spa, and back into human resources. As a social media strategist, I knew it was important that I communicate the best practices I’ve learned to others. Life is meaningless unless there is a purpose, a purpose grounded in spiritual roots, and sound career development principles. I wanted to impart not just job search strategies, but also how to lift your spirits when the job search gets you down.

One of the most difficult parts of my own experience with career transition is the discouragement that comes with rejection, it’s so demotivating. I used to feel invisible, and forgotten. I never want the job seekers in the HireFriday community to experience the sense of despair and isolation that I experienced. I lifted myself up out of the rut of discouragement, but I didn’t do it alone. The recruiting, HR, and career and coaching community lifted me up, encouraged and empowered me, and most importantly I felt like I belonged to a community.

Follow Friday isn’t useless, people still find interesting people to follow through the stream on twitter. Whenever I saw a row of names without description, my eyes would glaze over. I grew bored and weary of #FF. I knew there had to be a better use of my time and energy. It started when I gave out the coveted HRMargo awards. I selected 1 or 2 people, and described what they do best, and why I thought they were super stars. Everybody loves awards. It got to a point that people started to dm me asking when their award was coming.

That’s when I got the idea for HireFriday. We were on the heels of an ugly recession, and I thought, “hey wouldn’t be a great idea if everyone who tweets #FollowFriday would tweet #HireFriday instead?” Think how many job seekers we can help. The idea became viral, and is now in Canada and the UK. My book shows job seekers how to leverage their social media connections to find their next job. I discuss boots on the ground strategies for how to figure out what you want to do next, how to do Internet research, how to create a social media friendly resume, how to determine the best online job search sources, and how to align all of these resources with you goals.

I’m excited beyond description to share my book with the world. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Before Friday, polish your resume and linkedin profile and get ready to post it to our twitter stream, and facebook and linkedin group.

Today, I selected a motivational theme song that’s funny, and joyful. I now give you, “Who Let The Dogs Out.” This is the dance remix. If this doesn’t get you jumping, I don’t know what will. Celebrate your beautiful life.

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Margo Rose, Chief Social Strategist Says: Unemployment is Hard. HireFriday Boot Camp Can Help

HireFriday Boot Camp will give your job search the boost it needs.  This boots on the ground approach to job seeking will teach you everything you need to know about tapping into social networks to accelerate your re-employment.  My first workshop will be August 20th 2010 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  The cost is only $99.00.  In addition to learning how to harness the power of #HireFriday on twitter, facebook, and linkedin you will learn tried and true social learning techniques to tap into the social media job search universe.

HireFriday Boot Camp Workshops and Coaching Now Available by Margo Rose

Learning Objectives: By The End Of This Workshop You Will Know How To:

• Make the most of HireFriday through strategic networking with Margo’s social networks: The primary focus of today’s workshop will be on twitter for job search.
• Pro-active approach to job search strategy
• Think like a recruiter: learn competitive intelligence strategies to do targeted company searches
• Know how to uncover social media job resources, and to determine how much time to spend on each platform
• You will leave with a sound social media job search plan for how to land your next job
• Learn the components of an effective linkedin, facebook, twitter, google & yahoo profile, and how to embed search engine key words to make sure you are found!
• You will leave with the confidence to be viable candidate

Materials include:  a step by step handout that list all the strategies covered in the day’s workshop, and a list of reputable recruiters in Margo Rose’s network divided into industry, and job type areas.

During this introductory overview, we will take part in #HireFriday, and learn the ins-and-outs of navigating your way through the clutter in the social network channels.

Future HireFriday Boot Camps:

• Linkedin 4 Job Seekers:  By the end of this workshop you will have a linkedin profile that will help you land your job
• On-line resume development for social media channels
• Social Media Relationship Building: Strategic Networking
• HireFriday Self Discovery:  A self-assessment workshop to help you discover what you want to do next.  You will learn how to discover, uncover, and land the job of your dreams!

Individual HireFriday Boot Camp Coaching Sessions are available.  Because unemployment creates hardship, Margo sees clients on a sliding scale based on what an individual can afford.  Margo will be offering webinars in the future, so stay tuned.  For more information call me 513-509-7762 or email me at hrsocialstrategy@gmail.com.

For those of you who regularly read my blog, you know how much I love theme songs.  So today I selected: “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”

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