Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

(If this blog song doesn’t crack you up, I don’t know what will

Why do I blog?  Because my heart cries out for a voice.  Before the days of blogs, I wrote copiously in my journal.  Should your blog be like your personal journal?  Heavens no, if it is written for a business-based audience.  Yes, if you are an identity blogger, and maybe if it is your hobby.

Lately, I’ve been writing about distinctly personal matters: self-esteem, spirituality/religion, and things I’d never say in public, or to a group of people I don’t know.  So then, why do I share these things with you?  Because you are my readers.  My audience is primarily comprised of job seekers from the HireFriday Community I founded in February.  HR & Recruting professionals read my blog.  There’s so much controversy about how much information is too much information.

That’s a judgement call.  I say write within the parameters of the interests of your readers, be true to your professional brand.  My brand is HireFriday.  That brand is also Margo Rose the human being, and HRMargo the HR/OD/Recruitment professional.  I can’t separate my audiences.  I could have a different blog for each audience.  However, I choose not to do that.  Rather, I write about what’s on my mind.  I write primarily–editorial opinion pieces about things going on in my industry, and things that are of interest to my HireFriday job seekers (all of whom I love dearly). I strongly encourage the job seekers in the HireFriday Community to blog about their expertise, their strengths, and to use it as a portfolio piece. It’s a great way to be found. It’s a great way for job seekers to establish professional credibility. If I were looking for a job, I’d blog only about professional topics (which I did). Blogging & Social Media channels helped me land my job this year. I have struck out on my own again, and I have more personal freedom to write about what I really want.

Jessica Miller Merrill articulated the following image.  The Mullet.  She said, think of broadcasting your social media message like the style of the mullet, short up front (personal) long in the back (professional).  I love that model because it is accurate, sound advice.  However, my mullet wears bangs, as I tend to share more of my real self, opinions, philosophy up front.  I still share the bulk of my blog for my professional audience.  I also know that my brand is quite personal.  It’s also an acquired taste, it’s not for everyone.

I read a few hundred blog posts a day (I used to teach a speed reading course, so I am blessed to be able to read at lightening speed).  Reading blogs is the best way to learn how to blog.  I was inspired to by by Jory Des Jardins.  She is an identity blogger.  I love the BlogHER website and community she created.  I was again inspired when I attended HRevolution in 2009.  That is where I really learned how to be a blogger.  I made zillions of mistakes.  I still do.  It’s all about falling down, getting back up, falling down, and getting back up again.  That’s how I learn.  I learn most by reading other people’s blogs, attending conferences where people discuss blogging, and following blog chats on twitter.

Blogging is my joy.  I won’t make a living as a blogger, but I will have a place where I can sound off about things that matter most.  My birthday is around the corner, Tuesday, September 21.  I feel so blessed to be a baby boomer who embraces technology.  Blogging is a form of therapy for me.  It is also one of my greatest joys.  My blog is almost 1 year old.  What a miracle.

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Margo Rose Crazy Controversy Sells

Every now and then I wonder why shocktalkradio, shocking blogposts, and controversy sells. I spend hours researching and writing about my guests for my benign blogtalkradio show, Compassionate HR. those blog posts are rarely retweeted. As soon as I write a shock talk post, everyone retweets, and links back to it. Strange. My google analytics spike when I write something slightly mean spirited, and controversial. It’s ironic because I am the Compassionate HR blogtalkradio Host. I am a servant, steward leader. I spend 99% of my time helping others grow, and get HiredFriday.

Yet, my kick-butt posts are read furiously. Why? Is it because people don’t expect it? I really don’t know, but I find it frustrating because I spend no time researching controversial posts. I spend hours researching the meaty posts chocked full of tools and tips you can use.

I grow weary of this sad fact. Particularly when I hear those crazy posts are texted, emailed, and passed on like hot cakes on a yum-yum griddle. People love racy stories. It’s why shocking stories, and bad news is reported voraciously on network news. One day, I hope to present my findings about HireFriday, and Compassionate HR. Let me track back to the denotative definition of the word, Compassion. It means acknowledging suffering, and having a desire to express empathy, and a quest to alleviate suffering. It also expresses the power of equanimity.

Compassion doesn’t sell on my blog. Should I re-think my methodology? I am in the process of developing my new HireFriday website. It promises to be chock full of treats, and tools, and career related gems you can use. It will not be the least bit controversial. Albeit, my job search methodology is a bit unconventional, it is powerful. I have learned so much about career development through my Master’s Degree training, my experience as an outplacement facilitator with an international outplacement firm, and through my own painful career transition back into human resources after my 4 year stint in the Pet Industry.

Pain is a powerful motivator. Pain has been my greatest teacher. Compassion, and empathy are my teachers too. I am a spiritual woman. While my behavior falls short of my goal sometimes, I realize that like my Mother, my personality is an acquired taste. It’s not for everyone. My quirky personality is the result, in part, to the fact that I am in the midst of menopause. My hormones rage at times. I get hot flashes, and post shocking posts reflect that fact. I refuse to take estrogen, because I don’t want to suffer health related risks. My physician suggests that estrogen replacement should be a resort.

So, I will continue to be moody, and get angry and just plain stupid stuff that I never bother me when I am serene. As I grow, learn, and strive to become the woman I want to be, it is my hope to first do no harm. When I do so, I must make restitution immediately.

I now leave you with today’s theme song. It is one of my favorite songs by Aretha Franklin. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

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Unemployment is hard. HireFriday can help. That is my message, and a reminder to job seekers that they are not alone. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the fact that there are jobs available, even in when unemployment rates are high, and the mainstream media reports bad news.

Jobs are available. In fact most of the people in my recruitment network are looking for you job seekers. That is why it is crucial for you to put on your game face, and get ready to rumble before Friday. Here are some things you should consider:

1. Re-think your picture. Ok, I know no one likes to be told their picture is all wrong, but yours might be.  To be sure that it isn’t, check it out with a colleague,  or someone you trust.  There’s nothing more frustrating for me to see on HireFriday, than a bad picture of a potentially great candidate.  If your picture is a graphical image.  Change it.  People follow faces, and might mistake your image as spam.  In addition, recruiters and hiring managers want to see your professional image.  So, don’t shoot yourself in the foot before you get out of the gate.
2. Ask yourself, is my tweet “twitter friendly?” You’ve got 140ch to get your message out there.  Don’t clutter your tweet with extraneous information.  Research the key words in your industry.  Embed them into your tweet.
3. Join our HireFriday group on linkedin.  Our team of volunteer leaders will help you.  They will critique your potential tweet privately, and make sure it is HireFriday ready.
4. Don’t forget the world is watching. That’s right, HireFriday is not active not just in the United States, but we are in Europe as well.  Be positive, promote yourself in the best way possible.  Look at the way thought leaders in your industry present themselves.   Do you have similar experience?  Is it appropriate for you to use the terminology they use in your twitter bio?  Be honest, don’t lie.  But, if some of the key words apply to something you do, or have done, by all means use them.
5. Don’t hash tag people to death. Use hashtags sparingly, instead use them wisely.  First, research which hashtags in your industry get the most buzz, and attention.  There’s no use throwing a useless hashtag into the mix. If you want traction, spend your time following the hashtag twitter streams, and only using the ones that will get you in front of the hiring managers, and recruiters you want to see.
6. Pre-schedule your tweets.  Try cotweet.com, and schedule a good tweet once an hour.  Edit each tweet so you don’t look like a spam bot, and change it up a little.  Experiment and see which of your HireFriday tweets gets the most replies, and retweets.  I will retweet just about everyone in the stream, because I believe in community stewardship, but I’m not the one that’s going to hire you.  Tailor your tweets so that the people who can and will hire you see, and reply to your tweets.  Tweet more frequently only during peak hours.
7. Remember the multiplier factor: each person that retweets your HireFriday tweet exposes you to a new, and potentially powerful network.  Never underestimate the power of growing your network.  Pay it forward, retweet someone else’s HireFriday tweet.  Not only will they be grateful, you might just make a friend who can help you get hired.  We all know different people.  Case in point, my network of more than 4,100 contacts on twitter spans the HR, Recruiting industry, and the business community.  I also have a lot of great friends in my network, many of which have become closer as a direct result of using twitter.  My point here is this, you never know where your next job lead will come from, so grow your network.  Follow everyone in the HireFriday stream, most people you follow will follow you back.  If you nurture those relationships, they will retweet you and turn you on to their contact network.  It’s the power of numbers, and the law of attraction.
8. Don’t be a jerk.  That’s right, I said it.  Be nice, don’t be mean. Make sure your twitter personality is pleasant Monday through Thursday, not just on HireFriday.  Give more than you receive.  Tweet meaningful articles, and news your followers can use.  If you are a rocket scientist, tweet about the latest trends in your industry.  If you are a carpenter, tweet about the best demonstrated practices in the construction industry.  My point here is be relevant, be helpful, and move your image forward.
9. When I recommend a recruiter during HireFriday in the twitter stream, tweet them, introduce yourself, and find out if they know of jobs in your industry.  The fact of the matter is the HR and Recuitment Community is smaller than you think.  No, we don’t all know each other, but most of us make it a point of it to do so.  Most recruiters are basically good folks like you and me.  If they don’t know of a position for which you are suited, many of them can suggest a recruiter who focuses on your industry.  Tweet the HR professionals in my twitter network.  Tell them I sent you.  It’s been 7 months since I invented the HireFriday movement.  By now, all of them know about it.  Most of them really support HireFriday, and care about seeing people like you succeed.
10. Be omnipresent. Join our facebook fan page, participate in our linkedin group.  In addition, participate in twitter chats.  Every Friday from Noon-1 eastern time, and 9-10 a.m. Pacific,  we have a vibrant, helpful, and interesting twitter chat.  Use the hashtag #HFChat.  What’s cool about the HireFriday chat is that we have moderators who represent every generation.  @JPedde represents the Gen Y,  @JLetourneau represents Gen X and I represent Baby Boomers.

In addition,  participate in other employment related twitter chats.  It’s one more way for you to be found on twitter.  Twitter works for job search, if you work it.  On August 30th, I’m hosting a HireFriday All-Stars Show on Compassionate HR.  We are going to discuss HireFriday success stories, and new and innovative ways people in our HireFriday community are using twitter to find, and land jobs.

I hope you’ll join us.   Now for my theme song of the day “Dynamite.” I selected this song because it’s upbeat, and everybody needs a song of celebration of life song. Here it is:

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What HireFriday Can Do For You

*This guest post by Ed Han articulates what HireFriday is like from the candidate’s perspective.  I personally like Ed very much.  He’s a great writer, resource, and friend.  #HireFriday has brought some incredibly talented people into my life, Ed is one of them.  Check him out on linkedin, and twtter.  This post will most certainly open your eyes, and your heart.  I now give you Ed Han…*

By Ed Han

As a candidate, I heard many times about the importance of Twitter in job search. I am a big believer in online communities and have been for over a decade, yet I resisted exploring Twitter for some time. But if there’s one thing that managing a job search teaches, it’s that we must relentlessly re-examine our practices and see if they still make sense. After some reflection, I realize that stance made no sense.

So in the past two months I really began exploring Twitter, where I am slowly building a presence. My previous experience with online communities suggested I would find a wealth of people who wanted to help others. That proved truer than I could have known: the resources available to a candidate through Twitter are legion. Career coaches, job search gurus and other professionals in transition publicize a staggering amount of helpful, practical advice. And the chief exemplar of this truth is what I want to discuss: HireFriday.

The brainchild of Margo Rose, the HireFriday movement is the next evolution of the well-known FollowFriday movement on Twitter, where more established people on Twitter publicize newer members. Where HireFriday differs from that noble, well-established tradition is elegant in its simplicity: job seekers assemble a tweet publicizing their skills and talents and incorporate a hyperlink to their resume or LinkedIn profile. Others in the movement retweet those updates, vastly increasing the visibility of participants, who identify such messages by inclusion of the HireFriday hashtag.

Earlier, I mentioned that managing a job search has taught me one thing: to re-evaluate practices relentlessly to see if they still make sense. But there is another, more fundamental lesson this experience has taught me, and ultimately, it’s a very simple one.

People want to help job seekers. Maybe they themselves recently were a candidate; maybe someone in their lives is also in transition; or for some, it’s just about being compassionate. As job seekers, we should make it easier for them to help us. And that’s exactly what HireFriday does so brilliantly for job seekers: it empowers others to help us. So help others help you by taking these simple steps:

• Learn how to get involved in the movement
• Join the LinkedIn group and our facebook page
• Compose a tweet that highlights your unique blend of strengths

Please remember to use a URL shortener such as http://www.bit.ly or http://www.ow.ly to save valuable characters and to leave enough room for your update to be retweeted by others! Do yourself this kindness: get involved, raise your visibility!

But the boost in visibility, while amazing, isn’t the only upside to HireFriday.

The truth is that job search can be exhausting. A lot of job seekers I know struggle with managing their mindset, some on a daily basis. There are a large number of people in search need help with this. One HireFriday participant, the generous and ever insightful Lou Bonica, really summed up it up:

“#HireFriday is not just about Tweeting and RTing #jobseeker profiles. It is a reminder to them that they are not alone or forgotten.”

There is much in the job search process that can be discouraging to those in it. The real genius of HireFriday is that it reminds job seekers that no, we are not alone, and that no, we are not forgotten.

But it can only do so if you get involved.

Ed Han is a wordsmith with a passion for networking and helping job seekers optimally leverage opportunities. A recent convert to Twitter, Ed is now as active on Twitter as on LinkedIn and writes a monthly column for the PSG of Mercer county newsletter geared towards job seekers, Staying Focused.

You can follow Ed on Twitter here, see what he is doing on LinkedIn here or check out the weekly updates to his blog.

*editor’s note: By now you know I’m big fan of them songs.  Today, I give you Jason Mraz, “Life is Wonderful.”

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The smartest people in our industry were there!

Where else could you see the three incredibly sexy, smart and savvy “BALD” men posing for a photo? Steve Levy, Rich DeMatteo, and Geoff Webb literally put there heads together, and I almost fell off my chair.  At one point I thought Steve was going to turn to Rich and say, “Luke I am your Father.”   TruUsa was not just a load of laughs, it was chocked full of “secret sauce,” which described the trade secrets shared by Marie Journey, and Geoff Webb.

Marie’s session on video stood out at one of the most profoundly important tracks.   According to Journey, an effective video should be 3 min 26 seconds.  Once you’re over 5 minutes you lose your audience.  She gave us the “secret sauce” video secrets.  Here session was incredible.

Video seo goes for facebook as well.  Geoff Webb said the hits from his facebook music videos that he downloads from youtube always top the charts.

With more than 105 million users, twitter is a very good place to find readers.  Hashtags, used strategically can make you rise to the top of the google page, and it attracts new followers, and readers.

Geoff Peterson, articulates the importance of search engine optimization in his post.  He says “With Twitter developing recent partnerships with search engines Google and Bing, your tweets are not only being broadcast to your followers on Twitter or those in the community, but literally to the whole world .”  Here are some tips on getting your blog search engine optimized . He wasn’t at TruUsa, his video post is amazing.

Apparently google loves video too.  The posts that include video and photos have a greater likelihood to make it to the first page of google searches.  Ray Anne Thorne and Marie both suggest tagging posts with relevant key words.  Of course posts that contain trending twitter topics, and posts that mention silly words like “flash, and sexy,” get more hits. So here’s a gratuitous trending topic mention.

Today: #Lessofaman #twowordcombos, and #damnitstrue , according to Thorne, mentioning and tagging your posts with trending topics boosts your seo.

Ray Anne writes daily, and she encouraged us to do the same.  It takes discipline to keep posts under 500 words, but if we do, and tag the post generously, sprinkling it with colorful pictures and video, our posts will receive greater readership.

So, please comment.  Tell me about your experience optimizing your blog?  Did you learn something at the “Battle of The Blogs” session that I didn’t mention?  Please let me know, your comments are appreciated.

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